H. B. 2543
(By Delegates Ryan, Varner, Mezzatesta, Nicol and Manuel)
[Introduced March 11, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections twenty-eight, twenty-nine
and thirty-three, article one, chapter three of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, relating to elections generally; providing for the
designation in each precinct of one election commissioner
and one poll clerk by each political party executive
committee; appointment by the county commission; time for
county commission to make appointments; setting minimum
number of election commissioners and poll clerks for each
precinct; providing for the appointment of alternate poll
clerks and election commissioners; and specifying the time
for election commissioners and poll clerks to report.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections twenty-eight, twenty-nine and thirty-three,
article one, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and
reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
§3-1-28. Election commissioners and clerks -- Appointment and
notification; vacancies; authority to administer
oaths, etc.
The county court commission of each county shall hold a
regular or special session at the courthouse of the county on the
first Tuesday of the month forty-ninth day next preceding the
date on which any election is to be held and appoint three
commissioners and two clerks to hold the election in each
precinct in the county. In primary and general elections and in
any special election in which political party candidates are to
be nominated or elected, the election commissioners and clerks
shall be selected from the two political parties which at the
last preceding general election cast the highest and the second
highest number of votes in this state. For every precinct in
which there are three two hundred, but not more than four
hundred, registered voters, there may be the county commission
may designate two boards of election officers: and
Provided,
That
for all precincts in which there are more than four hundred
registered voters, there shall be two boards of election
officers, and where two boards are used, each board shall consist
of three election commissioners and two poll clerks, one of which
boards shall be designated the "receiving board" and the other
the "counting board." and Not more than two commissioners and one
poll clerk of each board shall be appointed from the same
political party. Provided, That For any special election for thepurpose of taking the sense of the voters on the question of
calling a constitutional convention, and for any special election
or to elect members of a constitutional convention, and for any
special election or to ratify or reject the proposals, acts and
ordinances of a constitutional convention, and for any special
election where there are only public questions to be voted upon,
there shall be but one board of election officials in each
precinct, consisting of three commissioners and two poll clerks.
If, at any time before or during the session of the county court,
No later than the fifty-sixth day next preceding the date of the
election, the county executive committee of either or both of the
political parties, from which commissioners and clerks of
election are to be selected, shall file with or present to the
county court commission a writing signed by them, or by the
chairman or secretary of such committee on their behalf,
requesting the appointment of a member one election commissioner
and of one poll clerk of each receiving and counting board, of
the political party for which such committee, chairman or
secretary is acting and designating persons who are qualified
under this article for such appointment for each election
precinct in the county. The county court commission shall
appoint the persons so designated. The county executive
committee may, at the same time, designate as many qualified
persons as they deem necessary as alternates, from which list the
commission shall fill vacancies in the event any of the persons
appointed fail to accept their appointment as commissioners orpoll clerks, or fail to appear when required for the preparation
or execution of their duties.
The county court commission shall, by mail, notify all
commissioners and poll clerks and any designated alternates, of
their appointment, and include with such notice an appropriate
form for each person so appointed to return indicating whether or
not he or she will serve as such commissioner or poll clerk. It
shall be the duty of all persons so appointed to immediately
return said form to the county court commission. In the event
any of the persons so appointed refuse to serve as such
commissioners or poll clerks, the county court shall immediately
notify the chairman of the county executive committee of the
political party from which such commissioners and poll clerks are
to be selected. The chairman of the political committee so
notified shall recommend the person or persons to be appointed to
replace those declining to serve and it shall be the duty of the
county court to appoint the person or persons so recommended. the
executive committee fails to designate a sufficient number of
nominees and alternates to supply one commissioner and one clerk
for each election board in each precinct, the commission may fill
the vacancies.
If any person appointed receiving commissioner or clerk of
election shall fail to appear at the voting place at the hour for
opening the polls, the remaining commissioner or commissioners of
election of the political party to which the absentee belongs
shall select another commissioner or clerk, as the case may be,of such political party. But if the qualified voters of his or
her party present at the polls shall nominate a voter of his or
her party qualified to act under the provisions of this section,
such nominee shall be appointed. If none of the receiving
commissioners of the election or poll clerks shall appear at the
voting place at the hour appointed for opening the polls, the
qualified voters present, being at least ten in number, of the
political party which cast the highest number of votes in the
county at the last preceding election, shall select two
commissioners and one clerk and those of the political party
which cast the next highest number of votes in the county at such
election shall select one commissioner and one clerk of the
receiving board of such precinct, and the persons so selected
shall constitute the receiving board for the precinct. A vacancy
or vacancies on the counting board shall be filled in the manner
herein provided for filling a vacancy or vacancies on the
receiving board, except that such vacancy or vacancies shall be
determined and filled as of the hour appointed in this chapter
for the counting board to attend at the polls. Any commissioner
of election acting at any election precinct is hereby empowered
and authorized to administer oaths and to take and certify
affidavits in relation to any matter or thing required or
permitted to be done by any of the provisions of this article in
conducting and holding the election.
§3-1-29. Election commissioners and clerks -- Appointment and
notification; qualifications; nonpartisan or public
question elections.
No person shall be eligible to be appointed as a
commissioner of election or as a poll clerk in any election
precinct: (a) Who is not a qualified voter in the magisterial
district in which such precinct is situated; or (b) who has
anything of value bet or wagered on the result; or (c) who is a
candidate to be voted for at the ensuing election or who is a
parent, child, sibling or spouse of a candidate whose name
appears on the ballot in that precinct; or (d) who is addicted to
drunkenness; or (e) who is not of good character and standing; or
(f) who has served or acted in the capacity of deputy sheriff
within six months prior to the date of holding any such primary
or general election.
Whenever a nonpartisan or public question election is to be
conducted separate and apart from a primary or general election,
the provisions of this article relating to the selection,
appointment and qualifications of commissioners of election and
poll clerks shall govern and control, except that persons duly
registered as "independent" or as adherents to a political party
or group other than the two majority political parties then
recognized, when otherwise qualified to be election officials,
may be appointed commissioners of election and poll clerks for
the conduct of such nonpartisan and public question elections.
§3-1-33. How elections conducted by double boards.
In all precincts wherein two election boards shall have been
appointed, the receiving board shall attend at the opening of thepolls, shall open the polls, and shall proceed with the election.
The counting board shall attend at the voting place not later
than three hours after the opening of the polls, and shall take
charge of the ballot box containing the ballots theretofore cast
in that precinct:
Provided,
That in precincts in which there are
more than four hundred voters, the counting board shall appear no
later than seven-thirty a. m. and may begin counting after
twenty-five ballots have been cast. They shall retire to a
partitioned room or space in the voting place and there proceed
to count and tabulate the ballots cast, as they shall find them
deposited in the ballot box. The receiving board shall continue
to receive the vote of electors in the other box, until such time
as the counting board shall have finished counting and tabulating
the ballots cast in the first ballot box. The county counting
board shall, before exchanging the ballot boxes as herein
provided, seal the ballots counted by it in envelopes to be
provided for the purpose, which shall not be opened until the two
boards shall together proceed with counting, tabulating and
summarizing the votes as by this chapter provided. The two
boards shall then exchange the first box for the second box, and
so continue until the hour of closing the polls arrives.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for political
party executive committees to designate poll workers and election
commissioners for appointment by county commissions and to
provide a sufficient numbers of alternative poll workers to meet
election requirements.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.