H. B. 3111
(By Delegates Spencer, Palumbo,
Hatfield and Mahan)
[Introduced February 21, 2003; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article three, chapter
three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to absentee voting; excluding
the Monday or the day before election day for regular absentee
voting; expanding regular absentee voting days to seventeen
days before the day of the election; and authorizing counties
to hold regular absentee voting in high schools and
magisterial districts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section 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:
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
seventeenth day before the election and continuing through 1:00
p.m. the Monday 4:00 p.m. the Saturday before the election for any
election held on a Tuesday, or continuing through 1:00 p.m. 4:00
p.m. the day, (not including a Sunday) before the day before the
election for any election held on another day. For any election
held on a Tuesday, regular absentee voting in person is to be
available from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the
election. A county commission may provide for regular absentee
voting in high schools and other appropriate locations within the
magisterial districts of the county for the convenience of voters
voting absentee during regular absentee voting days.
(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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exclude the Monday or
the day before election day for regular absentee voting. The bill
also expands regular absentee voting days to seventeen days before
the day of the election. In addition, counties are authorized to
hold regular absentee voting in high schools and magisterial
districts.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.