Presidential Candidates Have Separate Filing Deadline in KY

Filing deadlines for most Democrats, Republicans and Independents to appear on the November ballot in Kentucky have come and gone. But the race for president has its own filing deadline because the national party conventions are later than usual this year.Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Les Fugate says every once in awhile, Kentucky has to accommodate the major national parties."Kentucky actually passed a law to extend the deadline," says Fugate, "it used to be August 31st, somewhere in that area, and the Republican convention was a little too far out, so we had to tweak it to get the Republicans in. We had to do the same thing for Bill Clinton in 1996. And the reason this problems occurs is that it all depends on the Olympics."Fugate says the host country chooses the dates for the Olympics, so this year the parties had little choice but to hold their conventions after the games to maximize media attention.One presidential candidate filed papers yesterday in Kentucky: Libertarian Bob Barr of Georgia.