Source: http://wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4676%20intr.htm&yr=2016&sesstype=RS&i=4676
Timestamp: 2020-08-05 22:07:03
Document Index: 92754777

Matched Legal Cases: ['§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3']

Introduced Version House Bill 4676 History
House Bill 4676
By Delegates McCuskey and Hanshaw
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-1-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §3-4A-11a of said code, as amended; to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §3-5-6e; to amend and reenact §3-5-7 and §3-5-13 of said code; to amend and reenact §3-10-3 and §3-10-8 of said code; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §3-10-8a, all relating to the nonpartisan election of prosecuting attorneys generally, requiring the election of prosecuting attorneys be on a nonpartisan basis; providing for the timing and frequency of election; providing for the commencement of terms of office; establishing ballot design and printing; providing that elections for prosecuting attorneys are to be held on the same date as the primary election; requiring nonpartisan ballots be used; establishing filing announcement of candidacies, including the timing, location and information necessary thereto; providing for the order of appearance of offices on the ballot; establishing ballot content; providing the procedures for the filling of vacancies in the offices of justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals, circuit judge, family court judge or magistrate; providing the procedures for the filling of vacancies in the office of prosecuting attorney and providing occasions for special elections to be held to fill vacancies.
That §3-1-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §3-4A-11a of said code be amended and reenacted; that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §3-5-6e; that §3-5-7 and §3-5-13 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §3-10-3 and §3-10-8 of said code be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §3-10-8a, all to read as follows:
§3-1-17. Election of circuit judges; county and district officers; magistrates; prosecuting attorney.
(d) Effective with the primary election of 2020, all elections for prosecuting attorney in each county will be elected on a nonpartisan basis as set forth more fully in article five of this chapter.
(4) Effective with the primary election held in 2020, and thereafter, the following nonpartisan elections are to be separated from the partisan ballot and separately headed in display type with a title clearly identifying the purpose of the election and constituting a separate ballot wherever a separate ballot is required under this chapter:
(A) Nonpartisan elections for judicial offices, by division of:
(B) Prosecuting Attorney;
(C) Nonpartisan elections for Board of Education; and
(D) Any question to be voted upon.
(4) (5) Both the face and the reverse side of the ballot may contain the names of candidates only if means to ensure the secrecy of the ballot are provided and lines for the signatures of the poll clerks on the ballot are printed on a portion of the ballot which is deposited in the ballot box and upon which marks do not interfere with the proper tabulation of the votes.
(5) (6) The arrangement of candidates within each office is to be determined in the same manner as for other electronic voting systems, as prescribed in this chapter. On the general election ballot for all offices, and on the primary election ballot only for those offices to be filled by election, except delegate to national convention, lines for entering write-in votes are to be provided below the names of candidates for each office, and the number of lines provided for any office shall equal the number of persons to be elected, or three, whichever is fewer. The words “WRITE-IN, IF ANY” are to be printed, where applicable, directly under each line for write-ins. The lines are to be opposite a position to mark the vote.
§3-5-6e. Election of prosecuting attorneys.
(a) An election for the purpose of electing a prosecuting attorney shall be held on the same date as the primary election, as provided by law, on a nonpartisan ballot.
(b) In case of a tie vote under this section, section twelve, article six of this chapter controls in breaking the tie vote.
(c) The certificate of announcement shall be filed with the proper officer not earlier than the second Monday in January before the primary election day and not later than the last Saturday in January before the primary election day and must be received before midnight, eastern standard time, of that day or, if mailed, shall be postmarked by the United States Postal Service before that hour. This includes the offices of justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals, circuit court judge, family court judge and magistrate, which are to be filled on a nonpartisan and division basis at the primary election. This shall also include the office of prosecuting attorney, which is to be filled on a nonpartisan basis at the primary election.
(2) The heading of every ballot is to be printed in display type. The heading is to contain a ballot title, the name of the county, the state, the words “Primary Election” and the month, day and year of the election. The ballot title of the political party ballots is to contain the words “Official Ballot of the (Name) Party” and the official symbol of the political party may be included in the heading.
(A) The ballot title of any separate paper ballot or portion of any electronic or voting machine ballot for all judicial officer shall commence with the words “Nonpartisan Ballot of Election of Judicial Officers” and each such office shall be listed in the following order:
(i) The ballot title of any separate paper ballot or portion of any electronic or voting machine ballot for all justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall contain the words “Nonpartisan Ballot of Election of Justice(s) of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia”. The names of the candidates for the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be printed by division without references to political party affiliation or registration.
(ii) The ballot title of any separate paper ballot or portion of any electronic or voting machine ballot for all circuit court judges in the respective circuits shall contain the words ANonpartisan Ballot of Election of Circuit Court Judge(s)@. The names of the candidates for the respective circuit court judge office shall be printed by division without references to political party affiliation or registration.
(iii) The ballot title of any separate paper ballot or portion of any electronic or voting machine ballot for all family court judges in the respective circuits shall contain the words “Nonpartisan Ballot of Election of Family Court Judge(s)”. The names of the candidates for the respective family court judge office shall be printed by division without references to political party affiliation or registration.
(iv) The ballot title of any separate paper ballot or portion of any electronic or voting machine ballot for all magistrates in the respective circuits shall contain the words “Nonpartisan Ballot of Election of Magistrate(s)”. The names of the candidates for the respective magistrate office shall be printed by division without references to political party affiliation or registration.
(v) The ballot title of any separate paper ballot or portion of any electronic or voting machine ballot for prosecuting attorney shall contain the words “Nonpartisan Ballot of Election of Prosecuting Attorney”. The names of the candidates for prosecuting attorney shall be printed without references to political party affiliation or registration.
(B) The ballot title of any separate paper ballot or portion of any electronic or voting machine ballot for the Board of Education is to contain the words “Nonpartisan Ballot of Election of Members of the ______________ County Board of Education”. The districts for which less than two candidates may be elected and the number of available seats are to be specified and the names of the candidates are to be printed without reference to political party affiliation and without designation as to a particular term of office.
(3) (A) For paper ballots, the heading of the ballot is to be separated from the rest of the ballot by heavy lines and the offices shall be arranged in columns with the following headings, from left to right across the ballot: “National Ticket”, “State Ticket”, “County Ticket” and, in a presidential election year, “National Convention” or, in a nonpresidential election year, “District Ticket”. The columns are to be separated by heavy lines. Within the columns, the offices are to be arranged in the order prescribed in section thirteen-a of this article.
(C) The title of each office is to be separated from preceding offices or candidates by a line and is to be printed in bold type no smaller than eight point. Below the office is to be printed the number of the district, if any, the number of the division, if any, and the words “Vote for ________” with the number to be nominated or elected or “Vote For Not More Than ________” in multicandidate elections. For offices in which there are limitations relating to the number of candidates which may be nominated, elected or appointed to or hold office at one time from a political subdivision within the district or county in which they are elected, there is to be a clear explanation of the limitation, as prescribed by the Secretary of State, printed in bold type immediately preceding the names of the candidates for those offices on the ballot in every voting system. For counties in which the number of county commissioners exceeds three and the total number of members of the county commission is equal to the number of magisterial districts within the county, the office of county commission is to be listed separately for each district to be filled with the name of the magisterial district and the words “Vote for One” printed below the name of the office: Provided, That the office title and applicable instructions may span the width of the ballot so as it is centered among the respective columns.
(D) The location for indicating the voter’s choices on the ballot is to be clearly shown. For paper ballots, other than those tabulated electronically, the official primary ballot is to contain a square formed in dark lines at the left of each name on the ballot, arranged in a perpendicular column of squares before each column of names.
(5) When an insufficient number of candidates has filed for a party to make the number of nominations allowed for the office or for the voters to elect sufficient members to the Board of Education or to executive committees, the vacant positions on the ballot shall be filled with the words “No Candidate Filed”: Provided, That in paper ballot systems which allow for write-ins to be made directly on the ballot, a blank line shall be placed in any vacant position in the office of Board of Education or for election to any party executive committee. A line shall separate each candidate from every other candidate for the same office. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, if there are multiple vacant positions on a ballot for one office, the multiple vacant positions which would otherwise be filled with the words “No Candidate Filed” may be replaced with a brief detailed description, approved by the Secretary of State, indicating that there are no candidates listed for the vacant positions.
(6) In presidential election years, the words “For election in accordance with the plan adopted by the party and filed with the Secretary of State” is to be printed following the names of all candidates for delegate to national convention.
(9) On the back of every official ballot or ballot card the words “Official Ballot” with the name of the county and the date of the election are to be printed. Beneath the date of the election there are to be two blank lines followed by the words “Poll Clerks”.
(10) The face of sample paper ballots and sample ballot labels are to be like other official ballots or ballot labels except that the word “sample” is to be prominently printed across the front of the ballot in a manner that ensures the names of candidates are not obscured and the word “sample” may be printed in red ink. No printing may be placed on the back of the sample.
§3-10-3. Vacancies in offices of state officials, United States Senators, Justices, and judges, and magistrates.
(d) (1) When the vacancy in the office of Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals, judge of the circuit court, judge of a family court or magistrate occurs after the eighty-fourth day before a general election, and the affected term of office ends on the thirty-first day of December following the next election, the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall continue in office until the completion of the term.
§3-10-8a. Vacancies in offices of prosecuting attorneys.
(a) Any vacancy occurring in the offices of prosecuting attorney shall be filled by the county commission within thirty days of the vacancy by appointment of a qualified person. The appointed person shall hold the office for the period stated by section one of this article.by appointment and subsequent election to fill the remainder of the term, as required by subsection (c) of this section. If an election is required under subsection (b) of this section, the county commission, is responsible for the proper proclamation by order and notice required by section one of this article.
(b) (1) When the vacancy in the office of prosecuting attorney occurs after the eighty-fourth day before a general election, and the affected term of office ends on December 31 following the next election, the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall continue in office until the completion of the term.
(2) When the vacancy occurs before the close of the candidate filing period for the primary election, the vacancy shall be filled by election in the nonpartisan election for prosecuting attorney held concurrently with the primary election, and the appointment shall continue until a successor is elected and certified.
(3) When the vacancy occurs after the close of the candidate filing for the primary election and not later than eighty-four days before the general election, the vacancy shall be filled by election in a nonpartisan election for prosecuting attorney held concurrently with the general election, and the appointment shall continue until a successor is elected and certified.
(c) When an election to fill a vacancy is required to be held at the general election according to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, a special candidate filing period shall be established. Candidates seeking election to any unexpired term for prosecuting attorney shall file a certificate of announcement and pay the filing fee no earlier than the first Monday in August and no later than seventy-seven days before the general election.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the nonpartisan election of prosecuting attorneys.