Judge decides on Rep. Nima Kulkarni's ballot eligibility. Here are the details

After a lawsuit called her eligibility into question, state Rep. Nima Kulkarni is set to remain on the ballot in the upcoming primary election.

In a ruling Thursday, Circuit Court Judge Mitch Perry denied a petition to disqualify Kulkarni, D-Louisville, from running for reelection. The decision confirmed the state representative from District 40 who took office in 2019 will be eligible in the May 21 primary, a race she's running against fellow Democrat William Zeitz.

The lawsuit claimed one of two people who signed candidate paperwork when Kulkarni filed for reelection was a registered Republican at the time of the signing, in violation of a state law that requires nominations to come from two members of the candidate's party.

One person who signed her papers was a Republican at that time, Kulkarni has said, but switched her registration to become a Democrat several days before the paperwork was certified by the Secretary of State's office.

In a text message after the ruling, Kulkarni called the ruling "the right decision for the voters in District 40."

"Today's decision affirms my place on the ballot, and I look forward to campaigning and winning the May 21st Democratic primary election," she said. "This decision allows the people to decide. I applaud Judge Perry for allowing democracy to work."

Kulkarni had previously said the lawsuit, filed by a former state representative she defeated in the 2018 primary, was a "desperate attempt" to remove her from the ballot.

Judge Perry's ruling cited a change in law approved in the 1990 General Assembly that "intentionally removed the timing component" of the statute in question, which ensured Kulkarni's paperwork is "valid and can be properly certified by the Secretary of State. That is precisely what happened in this case."

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The law in question states candidates seeking a place on the ballot must sign a form along with at least two "registered voters of the same party from the district or jurisdiction from which the candidate seeks nomination."

The law previously stated a candidate must sign paperwork with two members of their party “at the time of filing his notification and declaration.” That language was scrapped in 1990 and replaced with a clause that states a candidate can appear on the ballot when “the notice and declaration has been filed with the proper officer, and certified” according to previous statutes.

Former state Rep. Dennis Horlander filed the lawsuit, with representation from Northern Kentucky attorney Steven Megerle. In a statement Thursday, Megerle said the ruling "sets more than a century of closed partisan primaries on its head" and noted he had already filed a notice of appeal.

"Apparently, election petition requirements apply to everyone but Nima Kulkarni," Megerle wrote. "... Every day it appears we are creeping closer to a Banana Republic and further from a nation governed by the rule of law."

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Nima Kulkarni remains on Kentucky primary ballot after lawsuit denied