Senate Bill No. 453
(By Senator Grubb)
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[Introduced February 19, 1996; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections twenty-two, twenty-three and
twenty-four, article five, chapter three of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to elections and nominating procedures.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections twenty-two, twenty-three and twenty-four,
article five, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.
§3-5-22. Other party and group nominations; procedure.
Any political party which polled less than ten percent of the
total vote cast only for governor , secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, state supreme court, or commissioner of
agriculture, at the general election immediately preceding may
nominate candidates and select committees by party conventions,
provided such nominations are made and the certificates thereof
filed within the time and in the manner provided in section twenty-
four of this article, or by certificate in the same manner as
groups of citizens may make nominations as provided in the
following section.
No delegate or person participating in the selection of
delegates under this section shall vote in any primary election
held in that year.
§3-5-23. Certificate nominations; requirements and control;
penalties.
(a) Groups of citizens having no party organization may
nominate candidates for public office otherwise than by conventions
or primary elections. In such case, the candidate or candidates,
jointly or severally, shall file a declaration certificate with the
secretary of state if the office is to be filled by the voters of
more than one county, or with the clerk of the circuit court of the
county if the office is to be filled by the voters of one county or
political subdivision thereof; such declaration to be filed at
least thirty days prior to certificate to be filed by the time of filing the certificate provided by section twenty-four of this
article: Provided, That the deadline for filing the certificate
for persons seeking ballot access as a candidate for the office of
president or vice president shall be filed not later than the first
day of August preceding the general election. At the time of
filing of such declaration certificate each candidate shall pay the
filing fee required by law, and if such declaration certificate is
not so filed or the filing fee so paid, the certificate shall not
be received by the secretary of state, or clerk of the circuit
court, as the case may be.
(b) The person or persons soliciting or canvassing signatures
of duly qualified voters on such certificate or certificates, may
solicit or canvass duly registered voters residing within the
county, district, or other political division represented by the
office sought, but must first obtain from the clerk of the county
commission credentials which must be exhibited to each voter
canvassed or solicited, which credentials may be in the following
form or effect:
State of West Virginia, County of ................., ss:
This certifies that ............................, a duly
registered voter of this State; whose post-office address is
........................., is hereby authorized to solicit and canvass duly registered voters residing in
........................... (here place the county, district or
other political division represented by the office sought) to
sign a certificate purporting to nominate
.............................. (here place name of candidate
heading list on certificate) for the office of
................................. and others, at the general
election to be held on ..........................., 19......
Given under my hand and the seal of my office this
................. day of ........................., 19......
...............................................
Clerk, County Commission of ........... County.
The clerk of each county commission, upon proper application
made as herein provided, shall issue such credentials and shall
keep a record thereof.
(c) The certificate shall be personally signed by duly
registered voters, in their own proper handwriting or by their
marks duly witnessed, who must be residents within the county,
district or other political division represented by the office
sought wherein such canvass or solicitation is made by the person
or persons duly authorized. Such signatures need not all be on one
certificate. The number of such signatures shall be equal to not less than one percent of the entire vote cast at the last preceding
general election for the office in the state, district, county or
other political division for which the nomination is to be made,
but in no event shall the number be less than twenty-five. Where
two or more nominations may be made for the same office, the total
of the votes cast at the last preceding general election for the
candidates receiving the highest number of votes on each ticket for
such office shall constitute the entire vote. No signature on such
certificate shall be counted unless it be that of a duly registered
voter of the county, district or other political division
represented by the office sought wherein such certificate was
presented. It shall be the duty of those soliciting signatures to
read to each voter whose signature is solicited the statement
written on the certificate which gives notice that no person
signing such certificate shall vote at any primary election to be
held to nominate candidates for office to be voted for at the
election to be held next after the date of signing such
certificate.
(d) Such certificates shall state the name and residence of
each of such candidates; that he is legally qualified to hold such
office; that the subscribers are legally qualified and duly
registered as voters and desire to vote for such candidates; and may designate, by not more than five words, a brief name of the
party which such candidates represent and may adopt a device or
emblem to be printed on the official ballot. All candidates
nominated by the signing of such certificates shall have their
names placed on the official ballot as candidates, as if otherwise
nominated under the provisions of this chapter.
The secretary of state shall prescribe the form and content of
the nomination certificates to be used for soliciting signatures.
The content shall include the language to be used in giving written
and oral notice to each voter that signing of the nominating
certificate forfeits that voter's right to vote in the
corresponding primary election.
Offices to be filled by the voters of more than one county
shall use separate petition forms for the signatures of qualified
voters for each county.
(e) The secretary of state, or the clerk of the circuit court,
as the case may be, may investigate the validity of such
certificates and the signatures thereon, and if upon such
investigation there may be doubt as to the legitimacy and the
validity of such certificate, he may request the attorney general
of the state, or the prosecuting attorney of the county, to
institute a quo warranto proceeding against the nominee or nominees by certificate to determine his or their right to such nomination
to public office, and upon request being made, the attorney general
or prosecuting attorney shall institute such quo warranto
proceeding.
(f) Any person violating the provisions hereof, in addition to
penalties prescribed elsewhere for violation of this chapter, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined
not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in the county jail
for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the
court.
§3-5-24. Filing of nomination certificates; time.
All certificates nominating candidates for office under the
preceding section, including a candidate for the office of
presidential elector, shall be filed, in the case of a candidate to
be voted for by the voters of the entire state or by any
subdivision thereof other than a single county, with the secretary
of state, and in the case of all candidates for county and
magisterial district offices, including all offices to be filled by
the voters of a single county, with the clerk of the circuit court
of the county, not later than the day preceding the date on which
the primary election is held first day of August preceding the
general election. After such date no such certificate shall be received by such officers.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the ability of
political parties to obtain ballot access by changing when certain
filing fees are paid; allowing petitioners to vote in the regular
primary; and to extend the deadline for filing certain nomination
certificates.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be
added.