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Introduced Version House Bill 2657 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2657


(By Delegates Shaver, Mahan, Varner, Pethtel,
Argento, Perry, Martin, Williams and Talbott)

[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]



A BILL to amend and reenact §3-5-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §3-6-4a of said code, all relating to elections; requiring write-in candidates for public office to pay a filing fee for the office sought; and providing for distribution of the fee in the same manner as other candidates.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-5-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §3-6-4a of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.
§3-5-8. Filing fees and their disposition.
Every person who becomes a candidate for nomination for or election to office in any primary election or who seeks nomination or election as a write-in candidate under the provisions of section four-a, article six of this chapter shall, at the time of filing the certificate of announcement as required in this article, pay a filing fee as follows:
(a) A candidate for President of the United States, for Vice President of the United States, for United States Senator, for member of the United States House of Representatives, for Governor and for all other state elective offices shall pay a fee equivalent to one percent of the annual salary of the office for which the candidate announces: Provided, That the filing fee for any candidate for President or Vice President of the United States shall not exceed $2,500 commencing with the 2004 filing period;
(b) A candidate for the office of judge of a circuit court and judge of a family court shall pay a fee equivalent to one percent of the total annual salary of the office for which the candidate announces;
(c) A candidate for member of the House of Delegates shall pay a fee of one-half percent of the total annual salary of the office and a candidate for State Senator shall pay a fee of one percent of the total annual salary of the office;
(d) A candidate for sheriff, prosecuting attorney, circuit clerk, county clerk, assessor, member of the county commission and magistrate shall pay a fee equivalent to one percent of the annual salary, excluding any additional compensation or commission of the office for which the candidate announces. A candidate for county board of education shall pay a fee of $25. A candidate for any other county office shall pay a fee of $10;
(e) Delegates to the national convention of any political party shall pay the following filing fees:
A candidate for delegate-at-large shall pay a fee of $20; and a candidate for delegate from a congressional district shall pay a fee of $10;
(f) Candidates for members of political executive committees and other political committees shall pay the following filing fees:
A candidate for member of a state executive committee of any political party shall pay a fee of $20; a candidate for member of a county executive committee of any political party shall pay a fee of $10; and a candidate for member of a congressional, senatorial or delegate district committee of any political party shall pay a fee of $5.
Candidates filing for an office to be filled by the voters of one county shall pay the filing fee to the clerk of the county commission and candidates filing for an office to be filled by the voters of more than one county shall pay the filing fee to the Secretary of State at the time of filing their certificates of announcement and no certificate of announcement shall be received until the filing fee is paid.
All moneys received by the clerk from the fees shall be credited to the general county fund. Moneys received by the Secretary of State from fees paid by candidates for offices to be filled by all the voters of the state shall be deposited in a special fund for that purpose and shall be apportioned and paid by him or her to the several counties on the basis of population and that received from candidates from a district or judicial circuit of more than one county shall be apportioned to the counties comprising the district or judicial circuit in like manner. When such moneys are received by sheriffs, it shall be credited to the general county fund.
ARTICLE 6. CONDUCT AND ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS.
§3-6-4a. Filing requirements for write-in candidates.
Any eligible person who seeks to be elected by write-in votes to an office, except delegate to national convention, which is to be filled in a primary, general or special election held under the provisions of this chapter, shall file a write-in candidate's certificate of announcement as provided in this section. No certificate of announcement may be accepted and no person may be certified as a write-in candidate for a political party nomination for any office or for election as delegate to national convention.
(a) The write-in candidate's certificate of announcement shall be in a form prescribed by the Secretary of State on which the candidate shall make a sworn statement before a notary public or other officer authorized to give oaths containing the following information:
(1) The name of the office sought and the district and division, if any;
(2) The legal name of the candidate and the first and last name by which the candidate may be identified in seeking the office;
(3) The specific address designating the location at which the candidate resides at the time of filing, including number and street or rural route and box number and city, state and zip code;
(4) A statement that the person filing the certificate of announcement is a candidate for the office in good faith; and
(5) The words "subscribed and sworn to before me this ______ day of _____________, ____" and a space for the signature of the officer giving the oath; and
(6) A filing fee in the amount required by the provisions of section eight, article five of this chapter for the particular office sought by the write-in candidate. All fees collected from write-in candidates shall be distributed in the same manner as provided by the provisions of section eight, article five of this chapter.

(b) The certificate of announcement shall be filed with the filing officer for the political division of the office as prescribed in section seven, article five of this chapter.
(c) The certificate of announcement shall be filed with and received by the proper filing officer as follows:
(1) Except as provided in subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection, the certificate of announcement for any office shall be received no later than the close of business on the forty-second day before the election at which the office is to be filled;
(2) When a vacancy occurs in the nomination of candidates for an office on the ballot resulting from the death of the nominee or from the disqualification or removal of a nominee from the ballot by a court of competent jurisdiction not earlier than the twenty-first day nor later than the fifth day before the general election, the certificate shall be received no later than the close of business on the fifth day before the election or the close of business on the day following the occurrence of the vacancy, whichever is later;
(3) When a vacancy occurs in an elective office which would not otherwise appear on the ballot in the election, but which creates an unexpired term of one or more years which, according to the provisions of this chapter, is to be filled by election in the next ensuing election and the vacancy occurs no earlier than the twenty-first day and no later than the fifth day before the general election, the certificate shall be received no later than the close of business on the fifth day before the election or the close of business on the day following the occurrence of the vacancy, whichever is later.
(d) Any eligible person who files a completed write-in candidate's certificate of announcement with the proper filing officer within the required time shall be certified by that filing officer as an official write-in candidate:
(1) The Secretary of State shall, immediately following the filing deadline, post the names of all official write-in candidates for offices on the ballot in more than one county and certify the name of each official write-in candidate to the clerks of the county commissions of the appropriate counties.
(2) The clerk of the county commission shall, immediately following the filing deadline, post the names of all official write-in candidates for offices on the ballot in one county and certify and deliver to the election officials of the appropriate precincts, the names of all official write-in candidates and the office sought by each for statewide, district and county offices on the ballot in the precinct for which valid write-in votes will be counted and the names shall be posted at the office where absentee voting is conducted and at the precincts in accordance with section twenty, article one of this chapter.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require write-in candidates for public office to pay a filing fee for the office sought and to provide for distribution of the fee in the same manner as other candidates.

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