Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb364%20intr.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=364
Timestamp: 2018-05-22 15:40:43
Document Index: 234425960

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

SB 364 Text
Introduced Version Senate Bill 364 History
sb364 intr
Senate Bill No. 364
(By Senator Unger)
[Introduced February 25, 2013; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary .]
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-5-7 and §3-5-22 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to elections and nominating procedures; requiring a candidate in a partisan election to have been affiliated with the same political party for a period of sixty days before filing a certificate of announcement of candidacy; providing that political parties may not nominate candidates by party convention and by primary election during the same election year; requiring notice of intent to conduct a primary election; and deleting inconsistent language.
That §3-5-7 and §3-5-22 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
§3-5-7. Filing announcements of candidacies; requirements; withdrawal of candidates when section applicable.
(a) Any person who is eligible and seeks to hold an office or political party position to be filled by election in any primary or general election held under the provisions of this chapter shall file a certificate of announcement declaring his or her candidacy for the nomination or election to the office.
(b) The certificate of announcement shall be filed as follows:
(1) Candidates for the House of Delegates or the state Senate and any other office or political position to be filled by the voters of more than one county shall file a certificate of announcement with the Secretary of State.
(2) Candidates for an office or political position to be filled by the voters of a single county or a subdivision of a county, except for candidates for the House of Delegates or State Senate, shall file a certificate of announcement with the clerk of the county commission.
(3) Candidates for an office to be filled by the voters of a municipality shall file a certificate of announcement with the recorder or city clerk.
(c) The certificate of announcement shall be filed with the proper officer not earlier than the second Monday in January next preceding the primary election day, and not later than the last Saturday in January next preceding 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.
(d) The certificate of announcement shall be on 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 administer oaths, containing the following information:
(1) The date of the election in which the candidate seeks to appear on the ballot;
(2) The name of the office sought; the district, if any; and the division, if any;
(3) The legal name of the candidate and the exact name the candidate desires to appear on the ballot, subject to limitations prescribed in section thirteen, article five of this chapter;
(4) The county of residence and a statement that the candidate is a legally qualified voter of that county; and the magisterial district of residence for candidates elected from magisterial districts or under magisterial district limitations;
(5) 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;
(6) For partisan elections, the name of the candidate's political party and a statement that the candidate: (A) Is a member of and affiliated with that political party as evidenced by the candidate's current registration as a voter affiliated with that party, and (B) Has not been registered as a voter affiliated with any other that political party for a period of sixty days before the date of filing the announcement.
(7) For candidates for delegate to national convention, the name of the presidential candidate to be listed on the ballot as the preference of the candidate on the first convention ballot; or a statement that the candidate prefers to remain "uncommitted";
(8) A statement that the person filing the certificate of announcement is a candidate for the office in good faith;
(9) The words "subscribed and sworn to before me this ______ day of _____________, 20____" and a space for the signature of the officer giving the oath.
(e) The Secretary of State or the board of ballot commissioners, as the case may be, may refuse to certify the candidacy or may remove the certification of the candidacy upon receipt of a certified copy of the voter's registration record of the candidate showing that the candidate was registered as a voter in a party other than the one named in the certificate of announcement during the sixty days immediately preceding the filing of the certificate: Provided, That unless a signed formal complaint of violation of this section and the certified copy of the voter's registration record of the candidate are filed with the officer receiving that candidate's certificate of announcement no later than ten days following the close of the filing period, the candidate may not be refused certification for this reason.
(f) The certificate of announcement shall be subscribed and sworn to by the candidate before some officer qualified to administer oaths, who shall certify the same. Any person who knowingly provides false information on the certificate is guilty of false swearing and shall be punished in accordance with section three, article nine of this chapter.
(g) Any candidate for delegate to a national convention may change his or her statement of presidential preference by notifying the Secretary of State by letter received by the Secretary of State no later than the third Tuesday following the close of candidate filing. When the rules of the political party allow each presidential candidate to approve or reject candidates for delegate to convention who may appear on the ballot as committed to that presidential candidate, the presidential candidate or the candidate's committee on his or her behalf may file a list of approved or rejected candidates for delegate and the Secretary of State shall list as "uncommitted" any candidate for delegate who is disapproved by the presidential candidate.
(h) A person may not be a candidate for more than one office or office division at any election: Provided, That a candidate for an office may also be a candidate for President of the United States, for membership on political party executive committees or for delegate to a political party national convention.
(i) A candidate who files a certificate of announcement for more than one office or division and does not withdraw, as provided by section eleven, article five of this chapter, from all but one office prior to the close of the filing period may not be certified by the Secretary of State or placed on the ballot for any office by the board of ballot commissioners.
(j) The provisions of this section enacted during the regular session of the Legislature in the year 1991 shall apply to the primary election held in the year 1992 and every primary election held thereafter. The provisions of this section enacted during the regular session of the Legislature in the year 2009 shall apply to the primary election held in the year 2010 and every primary election held thereafter.
§3-5-22. Other party nominations; procedure.
Any political party which polled less than ten percent of the total vote cast only for Governor at the general election immediately preceding may nominate candidates and select committees by party conventions, provided such nominations are made and the certificates thereof filed within the time and in the manner provided in section twenty-four of this article. or by certificate in the same manner as groups of citizens may make nominations as provided in the following section
No delegate or person participating in the selection of delegates under this section shall vote in any primary election held in that year.
A political party choosing to nominate candidates by convention under this section may not also nominate candidates by primary election in the same election year. If a political party with the option of nominating candidates under this section chooses to nominate candidates by primary election, it must provide written notice of intent to conduct a primary election to the Secretary of State no later than twenty-eight days before the start of the candidate filing period and is thereupon precluded from nominating candidates by convention under this section. A political party failing to provide such notice of intent to the Secretary of State may only nominate candidates by convention under this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require a candidate in a partisan election to have been affiliated with the same political party for a period of sixty days before filing a certificate of announcement of candidacy. The bill also provides that a political party may not nominate candidates both by party convention pursuant to §3-5-22 and by primary election during the same election year, and the party must provide notice to the Secretary of State if nominating by primary election. Language in §3-5-22 which is inconsistent with §3-5-23 is also removed.