H. B. 3174
(By Delegate Morgan)
[Introduced March 17, 2009; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-6-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the form of general election
ballots.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-6-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. CONDUCT AND ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS.
§3-6-2. Preparation and form of general election ballots.
(a) All ballots prepared under the provisions of this section
are to contain:
(1) The name and ticket of each party which is a political
party under the provisions of section eight, article one of this
chapter;
(2) The name chosen as the party name by each group of
citizens which has secured nomination for two or more candidates by
petition under the provisions of section twenty-three of this
article;
(3) The names of every candidate for any office to be voted
for at the election whose nomination in the primary election,
nomination by petition or nomination by appointment to fill a
vacancy on the ballot has been certified and filed according to law
and no others.
(b) The provisions of paragraphs (C) and (D), subdivision (2),
section thirteen, article five of this chapter; subdivision (3) of
said section; paragraphs (A) and (B), subdivision (4) of said
section; and subdivisions (6), (7), (8) and (9) of said section
pertaining to the preparation and form of primary election ballots
shall likewise apply to general election ballots.
(c) (1) For all ballot systems, the ballot heading is to be in
display type and contain the words "Official Ballot, General
Election" and the name of the county and the month, day and year of
the election.
(2) After the heading, each ballot is to contain, laid out in
parallel columns, rows or pages as required by the particular
voting system, the party emblem, the position for straight party
voting for each party and the name of each party as prescribed in
subsection (a) of this section. On paper ballots, the position for
straight party voting is to be a heavy circle, three-fourths inch
in diameter, surrounded by the words "For a straight ticket mark
within this circle" printed in bold six-point type. On all other
ballots or ballot labels, the positions for straight party voting
is to be marked "Straight Party Ticket".
(3) The party
whose candidate for president received the highest number of votes at the last preceding presidential election
with the highest number of registered voters in West Virginia is to
be placed in the left, or first column, row or page, as is
appropriate to the voting system. The party which received the
second highest vote is to be next and so on. Any groups or third
parties which did not have a candidate for president on the ballot
in the previous presidential election are to be placed in the
sequence in which the final certificates of nomination by petition
were filed.
(4) (A) The following general instructions for straight party
voters are to be printed in no smaller than eight point bold type:
"IF YOU MARKED A STRAIGHT TICKET: When you mark any individual
candidate in a different party, that vote will override your
straight party vote for that office. When you mark any individual
candidate in a different party for an office where more than one
will be elected, YOU MUST MARK EACH OF YOUR CHOICES FOR THAT OFFICE
because your straight ticket vote will not be counted for that
office". The last sentence of the instructions may not be included
on any ballot which does not contain any office or division where
more than one candidate will be elected.
On paper ballots, the general instructions are to be placed
below the party name and across the top of all columns, followed by
a heavy line separating them from the rest of the ballot:
Provided, That the instructions may be centered among the columns
running the full width of the ballot. On ballots marked with
electronically sensible ink, the general instructions are to be placed after the position for straight voting and before any
office.
(B) The following specific instructions are to be printed on
the ballot for any partisan election for an office or division to
which more than one candidate is to be elected: "If you marked a
straight ticket and you mark any candidate in a different party for
this office, you must mark all your choices for this office because
your straight ticket vote will not be counted for this office".
On paper ballots, the specific instructions are to be placed
below the office name of any partisan office where more than one is
to be elected and across the top of all columns for that office or
centered among the columns before the names of any candidates. On
all other ballots and ballot labels, the specific instructions are
to be placed above or to the side of the names of the candidates as
the voting system requires.
(5) For all ballots, any columns, rows or sections in which
the ticket of one party appears are to be clearly separated from
the other columns, rows or sections by a heavy line or other clear
division. For each party, the offices are to be arranged in the
order prescribed in section thirteen-a, article five of this
chapter under the appropriate tickets, which are to be headed
"National Ticket", "State Ticket" and "County Ticket". The number
of pages, columns or rows, where applicable, may be modified to
meet the limitations of ballot size and composition requirements,
subject to approval by the Secretary of State.
(d) The arrangement of names within each office for all ballot systems is to be as follows:
(1) In elections for presidential electors, the names of the
candidates for president and vice president of each party are to be
placed beside a brace with a single voting position, so that a vote
for any presidential candidate is a vote for the electors of the
party for which the candidates were named.
(2) The order of names of candidates for any office or
division for which more than one is to be elected is determined as
prescribed in section thirteen-a, article five of this chapter
:
Provided, That the drawing by lot is to be conducted on the
seventeenth day next preceding the date of the general election,
beginning at 9:00 a.m.
(3) In any office where more than one person is to be elected,
the names of the candidates for the office are to be staggered so
that no two candidates for that office appear directly opposite any
other candidate, as shown in the example below:
Provided, That if
the voting system cannot accurately tabulate any ballot due to this
requirement, the ballot may be adjusted so that it is accurately
tabulated. However, each candidate shall be separated by a thin
line to distinguish between each candidate.
_________________________________________________________________
For House of Delegates
For House of Delegates
First Delegate District
First Delegate District
(Vote For Not More Than Two)
(Vote For Not More Than Two)
_________________________________________________________________
SUSAN B. ANTHONY
City (County)
_________________________________________________________________
JOHN ADAMS
City (County)
_________________________________________________________________
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
City (County)
_________________________________________________________________
JAMES MONROE
City (County)
_________________________________________________________________
(4) Each voting system is to provide a means for voters to
vote for any person whose name does not appear on the ticket by
writing it with pen or pencil or by using stamps, stickers, tapes,
labels or other means of writing in the name of a candidate which
does not interfere with the tabulation of the ballot.
(A) In paper ballot systems which allow for write-ins to be
made directly on the ballot, a blank square and a blank line equal
to the space which would be occupied by the name of the candidate
is to be placed under the proper office for each vacancy in
nomination and for an office for which more than one is to be
elected, any vacancy is to appear after any other candidates for
the office. If no write-in lines are included on the ballot,
specific instructions are to be added to the top of the ballot
notifying the voter that a write-in vote may be cast by writing
the name and office on any location on the front of the ballot.
(B) In machine and electronically tabulated ballot systems in
which write-in votes must be made in a place other than on the
ballot, if there is a vacancy in nomination leaving fewer
candidates in any party than can be elected to that office, the
words "No Candidate Nominated" is to be printed in the space that
would be occupied by the name of the candidate and for an office
for which more than one is to be elected, any vacancy is to appear
after any other candidates for the office. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this code, if there are multiple vacant
positions on a ballot for one office, the multiple vacant
positions which would otherwise be filled with the words "No
Candidate Filed" may be replaced with a brief detailed
description, approved by the Secretary of State, indicating that
there are no candidates listed for the vacant positions.
(5) In a general election in any county in which unexpired
terms of the board of education are to be filled by election, a
separate section or page of the ballot is to be set off by means
clearly separating the nonpartisan ballot from the ballot for the
political party candidates and is to be headed "Nonpartisan Board
of Education".
(e) Any Constitutional amendment is to be placed following
all offices, followed by any other issue upon which the voters are
to cast a vote. The heading for each amendment or issue is to be
printed in large, bold type according to the requirements of the
resolution authorizing the election.
(f) The board of ballot commissioners may not place any issue on the ballot for election which is not specifically authorized
under the West Virginia Constitution or statutes or which has not
been properly ordered by the appropriate governmental body charged
with calling the election.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the criteria for
where a party is listed on the ballot.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.