Michelle Peterson defeated incumbent Andrew Cline with more than 60 percent of the vote, according to a letter from Shelby County Clerk Tony Harover. Peterson received 1,777 votes to Cline's 1,130 out of 2,907 votes recorded in the race. Peterson and her husband, John Peterson, died in the crash on Nov. 3.

The Kentucky Attorney General's office and the Shelby County clerk are citing different state laws and have reached conflicting conclusions about how to proceed.

In a Nov. 9 letter to Harover, Christopher Thacker, general counsel for Attorney General Russell Coleman's office, said KRS 118.212(4) governs the situation. The letter stated that because Peterson died after the candidates were certified and while she was still a candidate, neither precinct election officers nor the county board of elections may disclose or report the votes cast for her on the official certification. The letter concluded that Peterson's votes "cannot be counted or reported in the official certification" and that the results must be determined based on the votes cast for the remaining candidate, meaning Cline "should therefore be certified as the winner."

Harover, however, is citing a different state law that says the remaining school board members must choose a qualified replacement by majority vote. The Shelby County Board of Elections voted 3-1 on Nov. 9 to affirm the official results from Nov. 3, according to Harover's Nov. 12 letter to the State Board of Elections, the secretary of state and Coleman. Harover, who chairs the board, Sheriff Moore and Republican member Orange voted for the decision. Democratic member Butler voted against it.

In the letter, Harover wrote that a vacancy will exist when the current term for the office expires and that the vacancy "shall be filled per established procedures by the designated authority within the mandated timeframe."

Cline said in a statement that he is willing to let the matter go if the clerk reconsiders. "In a million years I never thought the advice of the Kentucky Attorney General and the County Attorney would be ignored," Cline said. "Everyone makes mistakes. They clearly did in failing to follow the law." He added that he is "willing to let bygones be bygones and let the Clerk reconsider its unconstitutional actions." "Hopefully, they will take me up on that offer," Cline said. "But if they do not, they leave me no choice but to pursue litigation."

The dispute leaves the school board seat in question as the county awaits a resolution. The Shelby County Board of Elections's decision to certify the results has been forwarded to state officials, but the conflicting legal interpretations could ultimately require a court to decide.