Senate Bill No. 232
(By Senators Deem, Ross, Snyder and Caldwell)
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[Introduced January 15, 2002;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-seven, article one,
chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact
section three, article three of said chapter; and to amend
and reenact sections six and nine, article nine of said
chapter, all relating generally to voting in elections;
changing the present restriction on electioneering within
three hundred feet of the entrance to the building housing
a polling place to within one hundred fifty feet of the
entrance; and reducing the time period in which persons may
vote a regular absentee ballot.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-seven, article one, chapter three of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that section three, article
three of said chapter be amended and reenacted; and that
sections six and nine, article nine of said chapter be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
§3-1-37. Restrictions on presence and conduct at polls.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person,
other than the election officers and voters going to the
election room to vote and returning therefrom, may be or remain
within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the outside
entrance to the building housing the polling place while the
polls are open. This subsection does not apply to persons who
reside or conduct business within such distance of the entrance
to the building housing the polling place, while in the
discharge of their legitimate business, or to persons whose
business requires them to pass and repass within three hundred
feet of such entrance.
(b) A person who is delivering a voter to a polling place
by motor vehicle may drive such vehicle to a convenient and
accessible location to discharge the voter, notwithstanding that
the location is within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of
the outside entrance to the building housing the polling place.
Upon discharging such voter from the vehicle, the person shall remove the vehicle from within three hundred one hundred fifty
feet of the entrance until such time as the voter is to be
transported from the polling place or another voter delivered:
Provided, That vehicles delivering voters who require assistance
by reason of blindness, disability or advanced age may remain
within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the entrance
until such time as the voter is to be transported from the
polling place.
(c) The election commissions shall limit the number of
voters in the election room so as to preserve order. No person
may approach nearer than five feet to any booth or compartment
while the election is being held, except the voters to prepare
their ballots, or the poll clerks when called on by a voter to
assist in the preparation of his ballot, and no person, other
than election officers and voters engaged in receiving,
preparing and depositing their ballots, may be permitted to be
within five feet of any ballot box, except by authority of the
board of election commissioners, and then only for the purpose
of keeping order and enforcing the law.
(d) Not more than one person may be permitted to occupy any
booth or compartment at one time. No person may remain in or
occupy a booth or compartment longer than may be necessary to
prepare his ballot, and in no event longer than five minutes, except that any person who claims a disability pursuant to
section thirty-four of this article shall have additional time
up to ten additional minutes to prepare his ballot. No voter,
or person offering to vote, may hold any conversation or
communication with any person other than the poll clerks or
commissioners of election, while in the election room.
(e) The provisions of this section do not apply to persons
rendering assistance to blind voters as provided in section
thirty-four of this article or to any child fourteen years of
age or younger who accompanies a parent, grandparent or legal
guardian who is voting. Any dispute concerning the age of a
child accompanying a parent, grandparent or legal guardian who
is voting shall be determined by the election commissioners.
ARTICLE 3. VOTING BY ABSENTEES.
§3-3-3. Voting an absentee ballot in person.
(a) Regular absentee voting in person is to be conducted
during regular business hours beginning on the fifteenth day
before the election and continuing through the Monday Saturday
before the election for any election held. on a Tuesday, or
continuing through the day before the election for any election
held on another day. For any election held on a Tuesday,
regular Regular absentee voting in person is to be available
from nine a. m. to five p. m. on the Saturday before the election.
(b) Special absentee voting in person for persons eligible
to vote an absentee ballot under the provisions of subsection
(c), section one of this article is to be conducted during
regular business hours in the office of the official designated
to supervise and conduct absentee voting beginning on the forty-
second day before the election and continuing until the first
day when regular absentee voting in person begins. Any person
seeking to vote absentee under this subsection is to first give
an affidavit, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state,
stating under oath the specific circumstances which prevent
voting absentee during the period for regular absentee voting in
person or by mail.
(c) Upon oral request, the official designated to supervise
and conduct absentee voting shall provide the voter with the
appropriate application for voting absentee in person, as
provided in this article. The voter shall complete and sign the
application in his or her own handwriting or, if the voter is
unable to complete the application because of illiteracy or
physical disability, the person assisting the voter and
witnessing the mark of the voter shall sign his or her name in
the space provided.
(d) Upon completion, the application is to be immediately returned to the official designated to supervise and conduct
absentee voting, who shall determine:
(1) Whether the application has been completed as required
by law;
(2) Whether the applicant is duly registered to vote in the
precinct of his or her residence, and, in a primary election, is
qualified to vote the ballot of the political party requested;
and
(3) Whether the applicant is authorized for the reasons
given in the application to vote an absentee ballot by personal
appearance during the special absentee voting period at the time
of the application.
(e) If the official designated to supervise and conduct
absentee voting determines the conditions provided in subsection
(d) of this section have not been met, or has evidence that any
of the information contained in the application is not true, the
clerk shall challenge the voter's absentee ballot as provided in
this article.
(f) The official designated to supervise and conduct
absentee voting shall provide each person voting an absentee
ballot in person the following items to be printed as prescribed
by the secretary of state:
(1) One of each type of official absentee ballot the voter is eligible to vote, prepared according to law;
(2) For all punch card and paper ballot voting and for
optical scan ballots voted after election supplies are delivered
to the election supply commissioner, one envelope, unsealed,
which may have no marks except the designation "Absent Voter's
Ballot Envelope No. 1" and printed instructions to the voter;
(3) For all punch card and paper ballot voting and for
optical scan ballots voted after election supplies are delivered
to the election supply commissioner, one envelope, unsealed,
designated "Absent Voter's Ballot Envelope No. 2"; and
(4) For optical scan voting systems, ballots, a secrecy
sleeve and access to a ballot box secured by two locks with keys
kept by the president of the county commission and the county
clerk.
(g) The voter shall enter the voting booth alone and there
mark the ballot: Provided, That the voter may have assistance
in voting according to the provisions of section four of this
article. After the voter has voted the ballot or ballots, the
punch card and paper absentee voter shall: (1) Place the ballot
or ballots in envelope No. 1 and seal that envelope; (2) place
the sealed envelope No. 1 in envelope No. 2 and seal that
envelope; (3) complete and sign the forms on envelope No. 2; and
(4) return that envelope to the official designated to supervise and conduct the absentee voting.
(h) Upon receipt of the sealed envelope, the official
designated to supervise and conduct the absentee voting shall:
(1) Enter onto the envelope any other required information;
(2) Enter the challenge, if any, to the ballot;
(3) Enter the required information into the permanent record
of persons applying for and voting an absentee ballot in person;
and
(4) Place the sealed envelope in a secure location in the
official's office, to remain until delivered to the polling
place or, in the case of a challenged ballot, to the board of
canvassers.
ARTICLE 9. OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.
§3-9-6. Unauthorized presence in election room; one hundred
fifty feet limit; penalties.
If any person, not herein authorized so to do, enters or
attempts to enter the election room, except upon a lawful errand
and for a proper purpose, or remains within three hundred one
hundred fifty feet of the outside entrance to the building
housing the polling place, contrary to the provisions of this
chapter, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more
than five hundred dollars, or confined in the county jail for not more than thirty days.
Excepting Except for those individuals provided for
expressly authorized in this or other sections of the code,
only full-time employees of the Secretary of State's office
secretary of state, representatives appointed by the state
election commission or full-time employees of the respective
county offices of the county clerk or the county prosecutor may
enter or otherwise disturb the polling place.
§3-9-9. Other unlawful acts at polling places; penalties.
No officer of election may disclose to any person the name
of any candidate for whom a voter has voted. No officer of
election may do any electioneering on election day. No person
may do any electioneering on election day within any polling
place, or within three hundred one hundred fifty feet of the
outside entrance to the building housing the polling place. No
person may apply for or receive any ballot in any polling place,
other than that in which he is entitled to vote, nor may any
person examine a ballot which any voter has prepared for voting,
or solicit the voter to show the same, nor ask, nor make any
arrangement, directly or indirectly, with any voter, to vote an
open ballot. No person, except a commissioner of election, may
receive from any voter a ballot prepared by him for voting. No
voter may receive a ballot from any person other than one of the poll clerks; nor may any person other than a poll clerk deliver
a ballot to a commissioner of election to be voted by such
commissioner. No voter may deliver any ballot to a commissioner
of election to be voted, except the one he receives from the
poll clerk. No voter may place any mark upon his ballot, or
suffer or permit any other person to do so, by which it may be
afterward identified as the ballot voted by him. Whoever
violates any provision of this section shall is be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall must be fined not
less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand
dollars, or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both
fined and confined.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is change the present law
which restricts electioneering to within 300 feet of the
entrance to the building housing a polling place to within 150
feet of the entrance. This bill also changes the regular
absentee voting time period from the Monday before a Tuesday
election to the Saturday preceding the election and authorizes
representatives of the election commission to be present in
polling places on election day.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.