Senate Bill No. 284
(By Senators Miller, Hall, Browning, Wills, Plymale, Williams and Kessler (Acting President))
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[Introduced January 26, 2011; referred to the Committee Government Organization; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §3-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to changing the date of the canvassing of votes in a primary election from the Friday following a primary election to the Monday following a primary election.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.
§3-5-17. Canvassing and certifying returns; recount procedures.
The county court, commissioners of the county commission, sitting as a board of canvassers, shall meet convene at the courthouse of the county on the Friday next succeeding fifth day after any primary election, excepting Sundays, and shall proceed to canvass the returns of such the election. The procedures prescribed in section nine, of article six, of this chapter relating to canvass of general election returns, shall, where adaptable, be applied in the canvass of the primary election returns. The board shall proceed to ascertain the result of such the election in the county and district and election precincts thereof and cause to be prepared and recorded in the primary election precinct record book a table or tables which shall show, as to each candidate of each political party for each office, the number of votes cast for him or her at each precinct and the total number thereof cast in the entire county. The board shall then make up and enter in said record book a certificate for each political party showing, as to each candidate for each political party for each office, the total number of votes, in words and also in figures, cast for him or her in the entire county and the number of votes received by all the candidates of such party in such district which shall be in the following form:
The board of canvassers of the county of ................ of West Virginia, having carefully and impartially examined the returns of the primary election held in said county on the ....... day of ..........., 19...., do hereby certify that in said county or district, at said election, on the official ballot of the .................. party for the office of ..............., A. B. received ............ (......) votes; C. D. received .............. (......) votes.
And so on for each office for each political party according to the truth. When the certificates are all entered, the report shall be signed by the members of the board or a majority thereof. by a majority. Such members shall also sign separate certificates of the result of said the election, within the county, for each of the offices to be filled by each political party
as provided by the following section.
The provisions of article six of this chapter, relating to the recount of votes in general elections, shall, to the extent applicable, be operative in primary and other elections conducted under provisions of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the date of canvassing of votes in a primary election from the Friday following the election to the Monday following.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.