LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville voters won't see notices or flyers Tuesday about Democratic Rep. Nima Kulkarni's disqualification from her reelection bid.

Kulkarni beat a 20-year incumbent in Dennis Horlander, who is also a Democrat, for the District 40 seat in Louisville. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Horlander, who is not running for the seat.

"I am still on the ballot," Kulkarni said Thursday. "We already have appealed to the (Kentucky) Supreme Court. I am confident that they will view the law in our favor. This is an issue that needs to be resolved. It has not been done since 1987, essentially, this particular issue. And so I'm confident that the Supreme Court will view it through the lens of voters and allow them the right to choose at the polls."

One of the two required witnesses who are Democratic voters in the 40th District necessary to sign for Kulkarni’s reelection was a registered Republican, according to the court of appeals' three-judge panel.

While the witness later changed her voter registration to Democrat, she is ineligible to vote this year, the appeals court ruled. The ruling overturns a Jefferson Circuit Court ruling. She did not change her registration until after she signed the witness affidavit, after Kulkarni’s nomination papers were filed with the Kentucky secretary of state, and after the Jan. 5, 2024, deadline to submit nominating papers had expired.

Kulkarni appealed the decision and said the precedent used to reverse a lower court's ruling is outdated.

"I think that the Court of Appeals did not view the arguments through the lens of voters, through the lens of the importance of having voters make their choice on election day and during early voting," she said. "And I think that the Supreme Court will do that."

Horlander is not running for office and won't gain if Kulkarni is removed. Her primary challenger, William Zeitz, would likely win because there are no Republicans in the race.

"The 40th House District deserves a representative who adheres to all campaign compliance and finance laws," Horlander said in a written statement. "Representative elections are the lifeblood of this country. And courts do not need to get in the way of that."

"There's not going to be any postings or any notices at the polls. So my name is still on the ballot because I have not been disqualified. We have already appealed to the Supreme Court," said Kulkarni. "So there is a stay that we have requested. And so when voters go to the polls today — and I've already heard from several that have supported me at the polls — there is no notice, and voters in District 40 are free to go and vote for me."

State legislators in Frankfort recently passed a new election law that disqualifies primary candidates to be a write-in candidate in that general election. 

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