hb2876 intr

H. B. 2876

(By Delegates Mahan, Smirl, C. White, Coleman and Craig)
[Introduced March 15, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]

A BILL to amend and reenact sections twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty and forty-four, article one, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating generally to election officials.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That sections twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty and forty- four, 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 officials; eligibility, suspension of
eligibility.

(a) To be eligible to be appointed or serve as an election official in any state, county or municipal election held in West Virginia, a person:

(1) Must be a registered voter of the county for elections held throughout the county, and a registered voter of the municipality for elections held within the municipality: Provided, That if there is not a sufficient number of persons eligible to serve as election officials registered in the municipality, a registered voter of the county where the municipality is located may serve as an election official for elections held within the municipality;

(2) Must be registered as affiliated with the political party for which appointed; except that, persons registered without party affiliation or as adherents to a political group other than the two majority political parties th
en recognized are eligible to serve in nonpartisan elections;

(3) Must be able to read and write the English language;

(4) May not be a candidate on the ballot in the election;

(5) May not be the parent, child, sibling or spouse of a candidate on the ballot in the precinct where the official serves;

(6) May not be a person prohibited from serving as an election official pursuant to any other federal or state statute;

(7) May not have been previously convicted of a violation of any election law; and

(8) May not be a person who has served as deputy sheriff within six months prior to the election.

(b) The county commission may, upon majority vote, suspend the eligibility to serve as election official in any election for four years, for the following reasons:

(1) Failure to appear at the polling place at the designated time without proper notice and just cause;

(2) Failure to perform the duties of an election official as required by law;

(3) Improper interference with a voter casting a ballot, or violating the secrecy of the voter's ballot;

(4) Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs while serving as election official; or

(5) Having anything wagered or bet on an election.

(c) The county commission may, upon majority vote, suspend the eligibility to serve as an election official in any election for two years, upon petition of twenty-five registered voters of the precinct where the official last served and upon presentation of evidence of any of the grounds set forth in subsection (b) hereof, providing the petition requesting the suspension of the election official is filed with the county commission at least ninety days prior to an election date. The names of those persons signing ~~such~~ the petition ~~shall~~ must be kept confidential.
§3-1-29. Boards of election officials; definitions, composition of boards, determination of number and type.

(a) For the purpose of this article:

(1) The term "standard receiving board" means those election officials charged with conducting the process of voting within a precinct and consists of five persons, including one team of poll clerks, one team of election commissioners for the ballot box and one additional election commissioner;

(2) The term "expanded receiving board" means a standard receiving board as defined in subdivision (1) ~~hereof~~ of this subsection and one additional team of poll clerks;

(3) The term "counting board" means those election officials charged with counting the ballots at the precinct in counties using paper ballots and includes one team of poll clerks, one team of election commissioners and one additional commissioner; and

(4) The term "team of poll clerks" or "team of election commissioners" means two persons ~~of opposite political parties~~ appointed by opposite political parties to perform the specific functions of the office.

(b) The composition of boards of election officials shall be as follows:

(1) In any primary, general or special election other than a presidential primary or presidential general election, each election precinct ~~shall~~ is to have one standard receiving board;

(2) In presidential primary and presidential general elections, each election precinct ~~shall~~ is to have one receiving board, as follows:

(A) For precincts of less than five hundred registered voters, one standard receiving board;

(B) For precincts of five hundred to seven hundred registered voters, one standard receiving board or, at the discretion of the county commission, one expanded receiving board; and

(3) In any election conducted using paper ballots, counting boards may be allowed, disallowed or required as follows:

(A) For any state, county or municipal special election, no counting board may be allowed;

(B) In a statewide primary or general election, one counting board ~~shall~~ is be required for any precinct of more than four hundred registered voters, and one counting board may be allowed, at the discretion of the county commission for any precinct of at least two hundred but no more than four hundred registered voters; and

(C) In a municipal primary or general election, one counting board may be allowed, at the discretion of the municipal governing body for any precinct of more than two hundred registered voters.

(c) For each primary and general election in the county, the county commission shall designate the number and type of election boards for the various precincts according to the provisions of this section. At least eighty-four days before ~~such~~ each primary and general election, the county commission shall notify the county executive committees of the two major political parties in writing of the number of nominations which may be made for poll clerks and election commissioners.

(d) For each municipal election, the governing body of the municipality shall perform the duties of the county commission as provided in this section.
§3-1-30. Nomination and appointment of election officials and alternates; notice of appointment; appointment to fill vacancies in election boards.

(a) For any primary, general or special election held throughout a county, poll clerks and election commissioners may be nominated as follows:

(1) The county executive committee for each of the two major political parties may, by a majority vote of the committee at a duly called meeting, nominate one qualified person for each team of poll clerks and one qualified person for each team of election commissioners to be appointed for the election;

(2) The appointing body shall select one qualified person as the additional election commissioner for each board of election officials;

(3) Each county executive committee may also nominate as many qualified persons as alternates as there are precincts in the county, ~~which alternates may~~ to be called upon to serve in the event any of the persons originally appointed fail to accept appointment or fail to appear for the required training or for the preparation or execution of their duties;

(4) When an executive committee nominates qualified persons as poll clerks, election commissioners or alternates, the committee, or its chairman or secretary on their behalf, shall file in writing with the appointing body, no later than the fifty-sixth day before the election, a list of those persons nominated and the positions for which they are designated.

(b) For any municipal primary, general or special election, the poll clerks and election commissioners may be nominated as follows:

(1) In municipalities which have municipal executive committees for the two major political parties in the municipality, each ~~such~~ committee may nominate election officials in the manner provided for the nomination of election officials by county executive committees in subsection (a) of this section;

(2) In municipalities which do not have executive committees, the governing body shall provide by ordinance for a method of nominating election officials; or shall nominate as many eligible persons as are required, giving due consideration to any recommendations made by voters of the municipality or by candidates on the ballot.

(1) The county commission for any primary, general or special election ordered by the county commission and any joint county and municipal election;

(2) The board of education for any special election ordered by the board of education conducted apart from any other election;

(3) The municipal governing body for any primary, general or special municipal election ordered by the governing body.

(d) The appropriate governing body shall appoint the election officials for each designated election board no later than the forty-ninth day before the election as follows:

(1) Those eligible persons whose nominations for poll clerk and election commissioner were timely filed by the executive committees and those additional persons selected to serve as an election commissioner shall be appointed;

(2) The governing body shall fill any positions for which no nominations were filed.

(e) At the same time as the appointment of election officials, or at a subsequent meeting, the governing body shall appoint persons as alternates: Provided, That no alternate may be eligible for compensation for election training unless the alternate is subsequently appointed as an election official, or is instructed to attend and actually attends training as an alternate and, if called to do so, also serves at the polls on election day. Alternates shall be appointed and serve as follows:

(1) Those alternates nominated by the executive committees, shall be appointed;

(2) The governing body may appoint additional alternates, who may be called upon to fill vacancies after all alternates designated by the executive committees have been assigned, have declined to serve or have failed to attend training; and

(3) The governing body may determine the number of persons who may be instructed to attend training as alternates.

(f) The clerk of the county commission shall appoint qualified persons to fill all vacancies existing after all previously appointed alternates have been assigned, have declined to serve or have failed to attend training.

(g) Within seven days following appointment, the clerk of the county commission shall notify, by first-class mail, all election commissioners, poll clerks and alternates of the fact of their appointment, and include with ~~such~~ notice a response notice form for the appointed person to return indicating whether or not he or she agrees to serve in the specified capacity in the election.

(h) The position of any person so notified of appointment who fails to return the response notice or otherwise confirm to the clerk of the county commission his or her agreement to serve within fourteen days following the date of appointment ~~shall be~~ is considered vacant and the clerk shall proceed to fill the vacancies according to the provisions of this section.

(i) If an appointed election official fails to appear at the polling place by forty-five minutes past five o'clock a.m. on election day, the election officials present shall contact the office of the clerk of the county commission for assistance in filling the vacancy and the clerk shall proceed as follows:

(1) The clerk may attempt to contact the person originally appointed, may assign an alternate of nominated by the same political party as the person absent if one is available or, if no alternate is available, may appoint another eligible person of the same political party;

(2) If the election officials present are unable to contact the clerk within a reasonable time, they shall diligently attempt to fill the position with an eligible person of nominated by the same political party as the person absent until a qualified person has agreed to serve;

(3) If two teams of election officials, as defined in section twenty-nine of this article, are present at the polling place, the person appointed to fill a vacancy in the position of the additional commissioner may be of either political party.

(j) In a municipal election, the recorder or other official designated by charter or ordinance to perform election responsibilities shall perform the duties of the clerk of the county commission as provided in this section.
§3-1-44. Compensation of election officials; expenses.

Each ballot commissioner shall be allowed and paid a sum, to be fixed by the county commission, not exceeding one hundred and twenty-five dollars for each day he or she shall serve as such, but, in no case shall a ballot commissioner receive allowance for more than ten days' services for any one primary, general or special election. Each commissioner of election and poll clerk shall be allowed and paid a sum, to be fixed by the county commission, not exceeding one hundred and twenty-five dollars for one day's services for attending the school of instruction for election officials if the commissioner or poll clerk provides at least one day's service during an election and a sum not exceeding one hundred ~~fifty~~ seventy-five dollars for his or her services at any one election: Provided, That each commissioner of election and poll clerk shall be paid and allowed a sum not exceeding one hundred ~~fifty~~ seventy-five dollars for his or her services at any of the three special elections hereinafter specified and described. The commissioners of election obtaining and delivering the election supplies, as provided in section twenty-four of this article, and returning them as provided in articles five and six of this chapter, shall be allowed and paid an additional sum, likewise fixed by the county commission, not exceeding one hundred twenty-five dollars for all such services at any one election and, in addition, shall be allowed and paid mileage up to the rate of reimbursement authorized per mile as set by the travel management office of the department of administration per mile necessarily traveled in the performance of such services. The rate paid for mileage pursuant to this section may change from time to time in accordance with changes in the reimbursement rates established by the travel management office, or its successor agency. The compensation of election officers, cost of printing ballots and all other expenses incurred in holding and making the return of elections, other than the three special elections hereinafter specified and described, shall be audited by the county commission and paid out of the county treasury.

The compensation of election officers, cost of printing ballots and all other reasonable and necessary expenses in holding and making the return of a special election for the purpose of taking the sense of the voters on the question of calling a constitutional convention, of a special election to elect members of a constitutional convention, and of a special election to ratify or reject the proposals, acts and ordinances of a constitutional convention shall be obligations of the state incurred by the ballot commissioners, clerks of the circuit courts, clerks of the county commissions and county commissions of the various counties as agents of the state, and all such expenses shall be audited by the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall prepare and transmit to the county commissions forms on which the county commissions shall certify all such expenses of such special elections to the secretary of state. If satisfied that such expenses as certified by the county commissions are reasonable and were necessarily incurred, the secretary of state shall requisition the necessary warrants from the auditor of the state to be drawn on the state treasurer, and shall mail such warrants directly to the vendors of such special election services, supplies and facilities.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the statutes relating to election officials.

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