H. B. 2683
(By Delegates Caputo, Coleman, Mahan, Manuel,
Webster, Faircloth and Schadler)
[Introduced January 27, 2003; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections one and three, article three
of chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to early in
person voting of absentee ballots.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one and three, article three, chapter three of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§ 3-3-1. Persons eligible to vote absentee ballots.
(a) Registered and other qualified voters of the county may
vote an absentee ballot pursuant to the provisions of this article.
(b) All registered and other qualified voters of the county
may vote an absentee ballot during the period of regular absentee
early voting in person.
(c) Any registered voter or other qualified voter of the
county who will be absent from the county throughout the regular
period and available hours for voting in person because of personal or business travel or employment and who will be unable to receive
an absentee ballot by mail at an address outside the county during
that absence may vote an absentee ballot under special affidavit in
person during the period of special absentee voting in person.
(d) (c) Registered voters and other qualified voters in the
county are authorized to vote an absentee ballot by mail in the
following circumstances:
(1) Any voter who is confined to a specific location and
prevented from voting in person throughout the period of voting in
person because of:
(A) Illness, injury or other medical reason;
(B) Physical disability or immobility due to extreme advanced
age; or
(C) Incarceration or home detention: Provided, That the
underlying conviction is not for a crime which is a felony or a
violation of section twelve, thirteen or sixteen, article nine of
this chapter, involving bribery in an election;
(2) Any voter who is absent from the county throughout the
period and available hours for voting in person because of:
(A) Personal or business travel;
(B) Attendance at a college, university or other place of
education or training; or
(C) Employment which because of hours worked and distance from
the county seat make voting in person impossible;
(3) Any voter absent from the county throughout the period and
available hours for voting in person and who is an absent uniformed
services voter or overseas voter, as defined by § 42 U. S. C. §
1973, et seq., the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting
Act of 1986, including members of the uniformed services on active
duty, members of the merchant marine, spouses and dependents of
those members on active duty, and persons who reside outside the
United States and are qualified to vote in the last place in which
the person was domiciled before leaving the United States;
(4) Any voter who is required to dwell temporarily outside the
county and is absent from the county throughout the time for voting
in person because of:
(A) Serving as an elected or appointed federal or state
officer; or
(B) Serving in any other documented employment assignment of
specific duration of four years or less; and
(5) Any voter for whom the designated area for absentee voting
within the county courthouse or annex of the courthouse and the
voter's assigned polling place are inaccessible because of his or
her physical disability.
(e) (d) Registered voters and other qualified voters in the
county may, in the following circumstances, vote an emergency
absentee ballot, subject to the availability of the services as
provided in this article:
(1) Any voter who is confined or expects to be confined in a
hospital or other duly licensed health care facility within the
county of residence or other authorized area, as provided in this
article, on the day of the election;
(2) Any voter who resides in a nursing home within the county
of residence and would be otherwise unable to vote in person,
providing the county commission has authorized the services; and
(3) Any voter who is working as a replacement poll worker and
is assigned to a precinct out of his or her voting district, if the
assignment was made after the period for voting an absentee ballot
in person has expired.
3-3-3. Early voting an absentee ballot in person.
(a) Regular absentee The early voting period for in person
voting is to be conducted during regular business hours beginning
on the fifteenth twentieth day before the election and continuing
through 1:00 p.m. the Monday before the election for any election
held on a Tuesday, or continuing through 1:00 p.m. the day before
the election for any election held on another day. For any election
held on a Tuesday, regular absentee the early voting period for in
person voting is to be available from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 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) (b) Upon oral request, the official designated to
supervise and conduct absentee voting shall provide the voter with
the appropriate application for early 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) (c) 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; and
(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 during the early voting period, 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate "special in
person" voting which requires the voter to have an excuse to vote
early in the special in person voting period and expands the no
excuse in person voting time period, and predesignates this period
as the "early in person" voting period.
This bill was recommended for introduction and passage by the
Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.