Demand Letter to Augusta Independent School District on Illegal Election Interference

On October 2, the Liberty Justice Center issued a demand letter successfully urging a Kentucky school district to immediately halt its illegal use of taxpayer funds to lobby against a proposed ballot measure. The letter also demanded that the district—which selectively blocked constituents on social media to prevent criticism of this lobbying—put an end to its violations of the First Amendment.

On October 1, the Augusta Independent School District violated Kentucky election law by sharing posts on its official Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages instructing Kentuckians to “Vote NO on Amendment 2,” a proposed ballot measure that will appear on the November 5 ballot. If enacted, Amendment 2 would increase educational opportunity across the state by empowering Kentucky’s General Assembly to provide financial support for students outside the public school system.

Under Kentucky law, using public resources—including school districts’ official social media accounts, websites, and staff time—to advocate for or against political issues like ballot measures constitutes illegal election interference. And, under Kentucky Supreme Court precedent, it is grounds for legal action by taxpayers.

In addition to engaging in election interference, the district also violated the First Amendment. By turning off public comments only on its posts lobbying against Amendment 2, the district attempted to suppress speech on a particular subject and from a particular viewpoint—engaging both in content-based and viewpoint-based discrimination, which are prohibited under the First Amendment.

The Liberty Justice Center’s demand letter informed the Augusta Independent School District that the Attorney General had been alerted of its violations of Kentucky election law and the First Amendment, and urged the district to take down all posts engaging in electioneering within 48 hours.

Shortly after the Liberty Justice Center issued the demand letter, the district reopened comments on its posts and removed the posts engaging in electioneering against Amendment 2.

“Using taxpayer resources to lobby against Amendment 2 isn’t just a violation of Kentucky election law—it’s also an attempt to deny educational opportunity to children across the state,” said Dean McGee, Senior Counsel for Educational Freedom at the Liberty Justice Center.

The Liberty Justice Center has also taken a stand against illegal electioneering in in Denton County and Harris County, Texas. Recently, the Liberty Justice Center’s efforts to hold school officials accountable for using public resources to advance personal political goals led to Texas’ first indictments of school officials for illegal electioneering.

A copy of the Liberty Justice Center’s letter to the Augusta Independent School District is available here.