Senate Bill No. 48

(By Senator Jackson)

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[Introduced February 14, 2001; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-six, article one, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to exempting certain experienced election officials from the training requirement.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-six, 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.
§3-1-46. Training program for election officials.
(a) The secretary of state in conjunction with the state election commission shall produce one or more audio-visual programs which shall explain and illustrate the procedures for conducting elections, the duties of the various election officials and the methods of voting on each voting system in use in the state.
(b) One copy of the appropriate training program shall be distributed to and kept and preserved by the clerk of the county commission of each county. The program shall be shown to all election officials before each election as part of their instructional program. The clerk of the county commission shall conduct an adequate number of sessions to train all election officials and shall schedule the regular sessions not less than seven days before each election and shall notify all election officials of the exact date, time and place such instructional program will be conducted.
(c) No person shall may serve as an election commissioner or poll clerk in any election unless he or she has attended such instructional program. A person to replace any election official who fails to attend the instructional program shall be appointed in the same manner as persons are appointed under the provisions of section thirty of this article to replace election officials refusing to serve, and the clerk of the county commission shall conduct an additional instructional program within the seven days prior to the election for any such person or persons so appointed: Provided, That in cases of emergency when no person who has attended the instructional program for that election is available to fill a vacancy on the election board, the clerk of the county commission may appoint such person as a commissioner or poll clerk notwithstanding that such person has not received the instruction.
(d) No person may be required to attend the instructional program if that person has served in at least four of the last six primary or general elections: Provided, That if either the county clerk or the secretary of state certifies that a substantial change in election procedures has occurred since that person last served in a primary or general election, that person is required to attend the instructional program pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.
(d) (e) The requirements of this section shall apply to all elections conducted by municipalities, except that the recorder or municipal clerk responsible for the election shall perform the duties of the clerk of the county commission defined herein. The clerk of the county commission may assist the recorder or municipal clerk in conducting the instructional program.
(e) (f) While such program is not being used by the clerk for instructional purposes, it the clerk shall be make it available to any duly organized civic, religious, educational or charitable group without charge, except that the clerk shall require a cash deposit on such use in an amount to be determined by the secretary of state.
(f) (g) The secretary of state shall cause such program to be amended, edited or reproduced whenever he or she is of the opinion such revision is necessary in light of changes in the election laws of this state.
(g) (h) No elected official shall may appear in such program either in person or by visual image or by name.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt certain election officials from attending the instructional program.

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