Senate Bill No. 81
(By Senator Hunter)
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[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article one, chapter
three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section twenty-four, article five of said chapter, all
relating to elections and nominating procedures; increasing
ballot access by changing the definition of political party;
and extending filing deadlines for certain nominating
certificates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article one, chapter three of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section twenty-four,
article five of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
§3-1-8. Political party defined; parties or groups that may
participate in municipal primary elections.
Any affiliation of voters representing any principle or
organization which, at the last preceding general election,
polled for its candidate for governor, secretary of state,
treasurer, auditor, attorney general or commissioner of
agriculture, at least one percent of the total number of votes
cast for all candidates for that office any one of the identified
offices in the state, shall be a political party, within the
meaning and for the purpose of this chapter: Provided, That
notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the
governing body of any municipality may, by ordinance adopted by
the affirmative vote of at least three fourths of the members of
such governing body by recorded vote, provide that municipal
political parties or groups within such municipality that do not
meet the requirements of this section for classification as a
political party may participate in the primary elections of any
such municipality. Any such ordinance shall contain provisions
implementing the foregoing proviso, which implementing provisions
shall conform as nearly as practicable to any general provisions
of law relating to municipal primary elections.
ARTICLE 5. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.
§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 of the state 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 the first day of
August, no such certificate shall be received by such officers
any officer.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the ability
of political parties to obtain ballot access by expanding the
scope of the definition of political party 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.