H. B. 3176


(By Delegates Mahan, Manuel, Craig, Coleman, C. White and

Smirl)

[Introduced March 30, 2001; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section thirteen, article five, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section two, article six of said chapter, all relating to the form of a ballot; and allowing a description on the ballot to replace a multiple listing of no candidate listing.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen, article five, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section two, article six of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 3. ELECTIONS.

 ARTICLE 5. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.
 §3-5-13. Form and contents of ballots and ballot labels.
The face of every primary election ballot shall conform as nearly as practicable to that used at the general election.
(a) The heading of every ballot shall be printed in display type. The heading shall contain a ballot title, the name of the county, the state, the words "Primary Election" and the month, day and year of the election. The ballot title of the political party ballots shall contain the words "Official Ballot of the (Name) Party" and the official symbol of the political party may be included in the heading. The ballot title of any separate paper ballot or portion of any electronic or voting machine ballot for the board of education shall contain the words "Nonpartisan Ballot of Election of Members of the ______________ County Board of Education". The districts for which less than two candidates may be elected and the number of available seats shall be specified and the names of the candidates shall be printed without reference to political party affiliation, and without designation as to a particular term of office. Any other ballot or portion of a ballot on a question shall have a heading which clearly states the purpose of the election, according to the statutory requirements for that question.
(b) (1) For paper ballots, the heading of the ballot shall be separated from the rest of the ballot by heavy lines, and the offices shall be arranged in columns with the following headings, from left to right across the ballot: "National Ticket", "State Ticket", "County Ticket", and, in a presidential election year, "National Convention", or, in a nonpresidential election year "District Ticket". The columns shall be separated by heavy lines. Within the columns, the offices shall be arranged in the order prescribed in section thirteen-a of this article.
(2) For voting machines, electronic voting devices and any ballot tabulated by electronic means, the offices shall appear in the same sequence as prescribed in section thirteen-a, and under the same headings as prescribed in subsection (a) of this section. The number of pages, columns or rows, where applicable, may be modified to meet the limitations of ballot size and composition requirements, subject to approval by the secretary of state.
(3) The title of each office shall be separated from preceding offices or candidates by a line, and shall be printed in bold type, no smaller than eight point. Below the office shall be printed the number of the district, if any, the number of the division, if any, and the words "Vote for ________" with the number to be nominated or elected or "Vote For Not More Than ________" in multicandidate elections. For offices in which there are limitations relating to the number of candidates which may be nominated, elected or appointed to or hold office at one time from a political subdivision within the district or county in which they are elected, there shall be a clear explanation of such limitation, as prescribed by the secretary of state, printed in bold type immediately preceding the names of the candidates for those offices on the ballot in every voting system. For counties in which the number of county commissioners exceeds three and the total number of members of the county commission is equal to the number of magisterial districts within the county, the office of county commission shall be listed separately for each district to be filled, with the name of the magisterial district and the words "Vote for One" printed below the name of the office.
(c) The location for indicating the voter's choices on the ballot shall be clearly shown. For paper ballots, other than those tabulated electronically, the official primary ballot shall contain a square formed in dark lines at the left of each name on the ballot, arranged in a perpendicular column of squares before each column of names.
(d) (1) The name of every candidate certified by the secretary of state or the board of ballot commissioners shall be printed in capital letters in no smaller than eight point type on the ballot for the appropriate precincts. Subject to the rules promulgated by the secretary of state, the name of each candidate shall appear in the form set out by the candidate on the certificate of announcement, but in no case may the name misrepresent the identity of the candidate, nor may the name include any title, position, rank, degree or nickname implying or inferring any status as a member of a class or group or affiliation with any system of belief.
(2) The city of residence of every candidate, the state of residence of every candidate residing outside the state, the county of residence of every candidate for an office on the ballot in more than one county, and the magisterial district of residence of every candidate for an office subject to magisterial district limitations, shall be printed in lower case letters beneath the names of the candidates.
(3) The arrangement of names within each office shall be determined as prescribed in section thirteen-a of this article.
(4) If the number of candidates for an office exceeds the space available on a column or ballot label page and requires that candidates for a single office be separated, to the extent possible, the number of candidates for the office on separate columns or pages shall be nearly equal, and clear instructions given the voter that the candidates for the office are continued on the following column or page.
(e) When an insufficient number of candidates has filed for a party to make the number of nominations allowed for the office, or for the voters to elect sufficient members to the board of education or to executive committees, the vacant positions on the ballot shall are to be filled with the words "No Candidate Filed": Provided, That in paper ballot systems which allow for write-ins to be made directly on the ballot, a blank line shall is to be placed in any vacant position in the office of board of education or for election to any party executive committee. A line shall must separate each candidate from every other candidate for the same office. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, if there are multiple vacant positions on a ballot for one office, the multiple vacant positions which would otherwise be filled with the words "No Candidate Filed" may be replaced with a brief detailed description indicating that there are no candidates listed for the vacant positions: Provided, That the description is approved by the secretary of state.
(f) In presidential election years, the words "For election in accordance with the plan adopted by the party and filed with the secretary of state" shall be printed following the names of all candidates for delegate to national convention.
(g) All paper ballots shall be printed in black ink on paper sufficiently thick so that the printing or marking cannot be discernible from the back. Ballot cards and paper for printing ballots using electronically sensible ink shall meet minimum requirements of the tabulating systems.
(h) Electronically tabulated ballots and ballot cards shall contain perforated tabs at the top of the ballots and shall be printed with unique sequential numbers from one to the highest number representing the total number of ballots or ballot cards printed. On paper ballots, the ballot shall be bordered by a solid line at least one sixteenth of an inch wide, and the ballot shall be trimmed to within one-half inch of that border.
(i) On the back of every official ballot or ballot card, there shall be printed the words "Official Ballot" with the name of the county and the date of the election. Beneath shall be two blank lines, followed by the words "Poll Clerks".
(j) Absent voters' ballots shall be in all respects like other official ballots, except that three blank lines shall be printed on the back of the ballot or ballot card in the lower left corner with the words "Ballot Commissioners" printed underneath.
(k) The face of sample paper ballots and sample ballot labels shall be like other official ballots or ballot labels, except that the word "sample" shall be prominently printed across the front of the ballot in such a way that the names of candidates are not obscured, and the word "sample" may be printed in red ink. No printing may be placed on the back of the sample.
 ARTICLE 6. CONDUCT AND ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS.
 §3-6-2. Preparation and form of general election ballots.
(a) All ballots prepared under the provisions of this section shall contain:
(1) The name and ticket of each party which is a political party under the provisions of section eight, article one of this chapter;
(2) The name chosen as the party name by each group of citizens which has secured nomination for two or more candidates by petition under the provisions of section twenty-three of this article;
(3) The names of every candidate for any office to be voted for at the election whose nomination in the primary election, nomination by petition or nomination by appointment to fill a vacancy on the ballot has been certified and filed according to law, and no others.
(b) The provisions of subsections (b) (3), (c), (d) (1), (d) (2), (g), (h), (i), (j) and (k), section thirteen of article five pertaining to the preparation and form of primary election ballots shall likewise apply to general election ballots.
(c) (1) For all ballot systems, the ballot heading shall be in display type and shall contain the words, "Official Ballot, General Election" and the name of the county and the month, day and year of the election.
(2) After the heading, each ballot shall contain, laid out in parallel columns, rows or pages as required by the particular voting system, the party emblem, the position for straight party voting for each party and the name of each party as prescribed in subsection (a) of this section. On paper ballots, the position for straight party voting shall be a heavy circle, three-fourths inch in diameter, surrounded by the words "For a straight ticket mark within this circle" printed in bold six point type. On all other ballots or ballot labels, the positions for straight party voting shall be marked "Straight Party Ticket". For ballots tabulated electronically, the secretary of state shall prescribe a uniform number for the straight ticket position for each party.
(3) The party whose candidate for president received the highest number of votes at the last preceding presidential election shall be placed in the left, or first column, row or page, as is appropriate to the voting system. The party which received the second highest vote shall be next, and so on. Any groups or third parties which did not have a candidate for president on the ballot in the previous presidential election shall be placed in the sequence in which the final certificates of nomination by petition were filed.
(4) (A) Except for lever machine ballot labels, the following general instructions for straight party voters shall be printed in no smaller than eight point bold type: "IF YOU MARKED A STRAIGHT TICKET: When you mark any individual candidate in a different party, that vote will override your straight party vote for that office. When you mark any individual candidate in a different party for an office where more than one will be elected, YOU MUST MARK EACH OF YOUR CHOICES FOR THAT OFFICE because your straight ticket vote will not be counted for that office." The last sentence of the above instructions shall not be included on any ballot which does not contain any office or division where more than one candidate will be elected.
On paper ballots, the general instructions shall be placed below the party name and across the top of all columns, followed by a heavy line separating them from the rest of the ballot. On ballots marked with electronically sensible ink and on ballot labels for voting devices in punch card systems, the general instructions shall be placed after the position for straight voting and before any office.
(B) Except for lever machine ballot labels, the following specific instructions shall be printed on the ballot for any partisan election for an office or division to which more than one candidate is to be elected: "If you marked a straight ticket and you mark any candidate in a different party for this office, you must mark all your choices for this office because your straight ticket vote will not be counted for this office."
On paper ballots, the specific instructions shall be placed below the office name of any partisan office where more than one is to be elected, and across the top of all columns for that office before the names of any candidates. On all other ballots and ballot labels, the specific instructions shall be placed above or to the side of the names of the candidates, as the voting system requires.
(5) For all ballots, any columns, rows or sections in which the ticket of one party appears shall be clearly separated from the other columns, rows or sections by a heavy line or other clear division. For each party, the offices shall be arranged in the order prescribed in section thirteen-a, article five of this chapter, under the appropriate tickets, which shall be headed "National Ticket", "State Ticket" and "County Ticket". The number of pages, columns or rows, where applicable, may be modified to meet the limitations of ballot size and composition requirements, subject to approval by the secretary of state.
(d) The arrangement of names within each office for all ballot systems shall be as follows:
(1) In elections for presidential electors, the names of the candidates for president and vice president of each party shall be placed beside a brace with a single voting position, so that a vote for any presidential candidate shall be a vote for the electors of the party for which such candidates were named.
(2) The order of names of candidates for any office or division for which more than one is to be elected shall be determined as prescribed in section thirteen-a, article five of this chapter: Provided, That the drawing by lot shall be conducted on the seventieth day next preceding the date of the general election, beginning at nine o'clock a.m.
(3) Except in voting machine systems, in any office where more than one person is to be elected, the names of the candidates for the office shall be staggered so that no two candidates for that office shall appear directly opposite any other candidate, as shown in the example below:

For House of DelegatesFor House of Delegates
First Delegate DistrictFirst Delegate District

(Vote For Not More Than Two)(Vote For Not More Than Two)

[If you marked a straight ticket and you mark any candidate in a different party for this office, you must mark all your choices for this office because your straight ticket vote will not be counted for this office.]


SUSAN B. ANTHONY
City (County)
JOHN ADAMS
City (County)
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
City (County)
JAMES MONROE
City (County)

(4) Each voting system shall provide a means for voters to vote for any person whose name does not appear on the ticket by writing it with pen or pencil or by using stamps, stickers, tapes, labels or other means of writing in the name of a candidate which does not interfere with the tabulation of the ballot.
(A) In paper ballot systems which allow for write-ins to be made directly on the ballot, a blank square and a blank line equal to the space which would be occupied by the name of the candidate shall be placed under the proper office for each vacancy in nomination, and for an office for which more than one is to be elected, any such vacancy shall appear after any other candidates for the office.
(B) In machine and electronically tabulated ballot systems in which write-in votes must be made in a place other than on the ballot label, if there is a vacancy in nomination leaving fewer candidates in any party than can be elected to that office, the words "No Candidate Nominated" shall be printed in the space that would be occupied by the name of the candidate, and for an office for which more than one is to be elected, any such vacancy shall appear after any other candidates for the office. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, if there are multiple vacant positions on a ballot for one office, the multiple vacant positions which would otherwise be filled with the words "No Candidate Filed" may be replaced with a brief detailed description indicating that there are no candidates listed for the vacant positions: Provided, That the description is approved by the secretary of state.
(5) In a general election in any county in which unexpired terms of the board of education are to be filled by election, a separate section or page of the ballot shall be set off by means clearly separating the nonpartisan ballot from the ballot for the political party candidates, and shall be headed "Nonpartisan Board of Education".
(e) Any constitutional amendment shall be placed following all offices, followed by any other issue upon which the voters shall cast a vote. The heading for each amendment or issue shall be printed in large, bold type according to the requirements of the resolution authorizing such election.
(f) The board of ballot commissioners may not place any issue on the ballot for election which is not specifically authorized under the West Virginia constitution or statutes, or which has not been properly ordered by the appropriate governmental body charged with calling such election.
 NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow a description to replace multiple listings of "no candidate filed".

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