Senate Bill No. 110

(By Senator Sprouse and Minear)

____________

[Introduced January 17, 2000; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
____________




A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article one-a, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring the state election commission to study and develop a method of conducting primary and general elections by means of computer internet systems.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article one-a, 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 1A. STATE ELECTION COMMISSION AND SECRETARY OF STATE.

 §3-1A-5. Powers and duties of commission; legislative rules.
(a) The commission shall have the power and duty to approve or disapprove applications for approval of any voting machine as provided in section seven, article four of this chapter.
(b) The commission also shall serve as a body advisory to the secretary of state, and, as such, shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) To recommend policies and practices pertaining to the registration of voters and the conduct of elections generally;
(2) To review the work of the office of secretary of state pertaining to the duties of that office with respect to elections, and for this purpose to have access at reasonable times to pertinent records, books, papers and documents;
(3) To consider and study the election practices of other jurisdictions, with a view to determining the techniques used in eliminating fraud in elections and in simplifying election procedures;
(4) To advise or make recommendations to the governor relative to election practices and policy in the state; and
(5) To keep minutes of the transactions of each meeting of the commission, which shall be public records and filed with the secretary of state.
(c) It shall be the commission's further duty to prepare and distribute in its name, within available appropriations and upon the recommendation of the secretary of state, nonpartisan educational material to inform voters of the importance of voting, to encourage voters to vote, to inform voters of election laws and procedures, and to inform voters of the effect of any public question, constitutional amendment or bond issue that is to be voted upon by all the voters of the state and that has been authorized to be placed upon the ballot by the Legislature, and manuals to assist county commissions, ballot commissioners, circuit and county clerks and other election officials in the proper performance of their duties in the conduct of elections.
(d) The commission shall promulgate such legislative rules, in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, as may be necessary to standardize and make effective the administration of the provisions of article eight of this chapter, and may promulgate such other rules, in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, relating to the conduct and administration of elections as the commission may determine to be advisable. All rules required or permitted to be promulgated by the commission by the provisions of this section shall be submitted on or before the first day of August, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, to the Legislature for review by the legislative rule-making review committee and approval by the Legislature.
(e) It is a further duty of the commission, before the first day of January, two thousand one, to consider and study the feasibility of election procedures in both primary and general elections by use of a computer internet system. The commission shall promulgate legislative rules, in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, as may be necessary to standardize and make effective the administration of elections by a computer internet system. All rules required or permitted to be promulgated by the commission by the provisions of this section relating to elections by a computer internet system shall be submitted on or before the first day of August, two thousand one, to the Legislature for review by the legislative rule-making review committee and approval by the Legislature.




NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the State Election Commission to study and promulgate rules for primary and general election procedures by use of computer internet systems.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.