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Introduced Version Senate Bill 232 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted



Senate Bill No. 232

(By Senators Deem, Ross, Snyder and Caldwell)

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[Introduced January 15, 2002;

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-seven, article one, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section three, article three of said chapter; and to amend and reenact sections six and nine, article nine of said chapter, all relating generally to voting in elections; changing the present restriction on electioneering within three hundred feet of the entrance to the building housing a polling place to within one hundred fifty feet of the entrance; and reducing the time period in which persons may vote a regular absentee ballot.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-seven, article one, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that section three, article three of said chapter be amended and reenacted; and that sections six and nine, article nine of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
§3-1-37. Restrictions on presence and conduct at polls.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person, other than the election officers and voters going to the election room to vote and returning therefrom, may be or remain within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the outside entrance to the building housing the polling place while the polls are open. This subsection does not apply to persons who reside or conduct business within such distance of the entrance to the building housing the polling place, while in the discharge of their legitimate business, or to persons whose business requires them to pass and repass within three hundred feet of such entrance.
(b) A person who is delivering a voter to a polling place by motor vehicle may drive such vehicle to a convenient and accessible location to discharge the voter, notwithstanding that the location is within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the outside entrance to the building housing the polling place. Upon discharging such voter from the vehicle, the person shall remove the vehicle from within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the entrance until such time as the voter is to be transported from the polling place or another voter delivered: Provided, That vehicles delivering voters who require assistance by reason of blindness, disability or advanced age may remain within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the entrance until such time as the voter is to be transported from the polling place.
(c) The election commissions shall limit the number of voters in the election room so as to preserve order. No person may approach nearer than five feet to any booth or compartment while the election is being held, except the voters to prepare their ballots, or the poll clerks when called on by a voter to assist in the preparation of his ballot, and no person, other than election officers and voters engaged in receiving, preparing and depositing their ballots, may be permitted to be within five feet of any ballot box, except by authority of the board of election commissioners, and then only for the purpose of keeping order and enforcing the law.
(d) Not more than one person may be permitted to occupy any booth or compartment at one time. No person may remain in or occupy a booth or compartment longer than may be necessary to prepare his ballot, and in no event longer than five minutes, except that any person who claims a disability pursuant to section thirty-four of this article shall have additional time up to ten additional minutes to prepare his ballot. No voter, or person offering to vote, may hold any conversation or communication with any person other than the poll clerks or commissioners of election, while in the election room.
(e) The provisions of this section do not apply to persons rendering assistance to blind voters as provided in section thirty-four of this article or to any child fourteen years of age or younger who accompanies a parent, grandparent or legal guardian who is voting. Any dispute concerning the age of a child accompanying a parent, grandparent or legal guardian who is voting shall be determined by the election commissioners.
ARTICLE 3. VOTING BY ABSENTEES.
§3-3-3. Voting an absentee ballot in person.
(a) Regular absentee voting in person is to be conducted during regular business hours beginning on the fifteenth day before the election and continuing through the Monday Saturday before the election for any election held. on a Tuesday, or continuing through the day before the election for any election held on another day. For any election held on a Tuesday, regular Regular absentee voting in person is to be available from nine a. m. to five p. m. on the Saturday before the election.
(b) Special absentee voting in person for persons eligible to vote an absentee ballot under the provisions of subsection (c), section one of this article is to be conducted during regular business hours in the office of the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting beginning on the forty- second day before the election and continuing until the first day when regular absentee voting in person begins. Any person seeking to vote absentee under this subsection is to first give an affidavit, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, stating under oath the specific circumstances which prevent voting absentee during the period for regular absentee voting in person or by mail.
(c) Upon oral request, the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall provide the voter with the appropriate application for voting absentee in person, as provided in this article. The voter shall complete and sign the application in his or her own handwriting or, if the voter is unable to complete the application because of illiteracy or physical disability, the person assisting the voter and witnessing the mark of the voter shall sign his or her name in the space provided.
(d) Upon completion, the application is to be immediately returned to the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting, who shall determine:
(1) Whether the application has been completed as required by law;
(2) Whether the applicant is duly registered to vote in the precinct of his or her residence, and, in a primary election, is qualified to vote the ballot of the political party requested; and
(3) Whether the applicant is authorized for the reasons given in the application to vote an absentee ballot by personal appearance during the special absentee voting period at the time of the application.
(e) If the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting determines the conditions provided in subsection (d) of this section have not been met, or has evidence that any of the information contained in the application is not true, the clerk shall challenge the voter's absentee ballot as provided in this article.
(f) The official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall provide each person voting an absentee ballot in person the following items to be printed as prescribed by the secretary of state:
(1) One of each type of official absentee ballot the voter is eligible to vote, prepared according to law;
(2) For all punch card and paper ballot voting and for optical scan ballots voted after election supplies are delivered to the election supply commissioner, one envelope, unsealed, which may have no marks except the designation "Absent Voter's Ballot Envelope No. 1" and printed instructions to the voter;
(3) For all punch card and paper ballot voting and for optical scan ballots voted after election supplies are delivered to the election supply commissioner, one envelope, unsealed, designated "Absent Voter's Ballot Envelope No. 2"; and
(4) For optical scan voting systems, ballots, a secrecy sleeve and access to a ballot box secured by two locks with keys kept by the president of the county commission and the county clerk.
(g) The voter shall enter the voting booth alone and there mark the ballot: Provided, That the voter may have assistance in voting according to the provisions of section four of this article. After the voter has voted the ballot or ballots, the punch card and paper absentee voter shall: (1) Place the ballot or ballots in envelope No. 1 and seal that envelope; (2) place the sealed envelope No. 1 in envelope No. 2 and seal that envelope; (3) complete and sign the forms on envelope No. 2; and (4) return that envelope to the official designated to supervise and conduct the absentee voting.
(h) Upon receipt of the sealed envelope, the official designated to supervise and conduct the absentee voting shall:
(1) Enter onto the envelope any other required information; (2) Enter the challenge, if any, to the ballot;

(3) Enter the required information into the permanent record of persons applying for and voting an absentee ballot in person; and
(4) Place the sealed envelope in a secure location in the official's office, to remain until delivered to the polling place or, in the case of a challenged ballot, to the board of canvassers.
ARTICLE 9. OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.
§3-9-6. Unauthorized presence in election room; one hundred fifty feet limit; penalties.

If any person, not herein authorized so to do, enters or attempts to enter the election room, except upon a lawful errand and for a proper purpose, or remains within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the outside entrance to the building housing the polling place, contrary to the provisions of this chapter, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than thirty days.
Excepting Except for those individuals provided for expressly authorized in this or other sections of the code, only full-time employees of the Secretary of State's office secretary of state, representatives appointed by the state election commission or full-time employees of the respective county offices of the county clerk or the county prosecutor may enter or otherwise disturb the polling place.
§3-9-9. Other unlawful acts at polling places; penalties.
No officer of election may disclose to any person the name of any candidate for whom a voter has voted. No officer of election may do any electioneering on election day. No person may do any electioneering on election day within any polling place, or within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the outside entrance to the building housing the polling place. No person may apply for or receive any ballot in any polling place, other than that in which he is entitled to vote, nor may any person examine a ballot which any voter has prepared for voting, or solicit the voter to show the same, nor ask, nor make any arrangement, directly or indirectly, with any voter, to vote an open ballot. No person, except a commissioner of election, may receive from any voter a ballot prepared by him for voting. No voter may receive a ballot from any person other than one of the poll clerks; nor may any person other than a poll clerk deliver a ballot to a commissioner of election to be voted by such commissioner. No voter may deliver any ballot to a commissioner of election to be voted, except the one he receives from the poll clerk. No voter may place any mark upon his ballot, or suffer or permit any other person to do so, by which it may be afterward identified as the ballot voted by him. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall is be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall must be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is change the present law which restricts electioneering to within 300 feet of the entrance to the building housing a polling place to within 150 feet of the entrance. This bill also changes the regular absentee voting time period from the Monday before a Tuesday election to the Saturday preceding the election and authorizes representatives of the election commission to be present in polling places on election day.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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