Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/bill_status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB507%20SUB1%20eng.htm&yr=2008&sesstype=RS&i=507
Timestamp: 2018-04-19 20:08:01
Document Index: 350302573

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

Engrossed Version Senate Bill 507 History
SB507 SUB1 eng
(By Senators Kessler, Hunter, Plymale, White and Minard)
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-1-20, §3-1-22, §3-1-29, §3-1-34 and §3-1-41 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to general provisions and definitions for elections; requiring cards of instructions to voters to include notice as to effect of voting provisional ballot and right to request location of correct precinct; requiring posting of cards of instruction at voting places; requiring board of ballot commissioners to provide election officials with a list of county precincts and a voter registration list; eliminating provisions requiring election official trainees to be volunteers receiving credits for high school diploma and to be appointed by county commission or municipality where the election is held; clarifying that prohibition against using counting board in special elections is discretionary with the county commission; requiring poll clerk to notify prospective voter of effect of voting provisional ballot and of correct precinct in which to vote; and updating language relating to signatures to reflect use of electronic poll books and other electronic devices.
That §3-1-20, §3-1-22, §3-1-29, §3-1-34 and §3-1-41 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
The clerk of the county court of each county shall provide poll books, a list of all precincts within the county, tally sheets, ballot boxes, voting booths, registration records and forms, strong and durable envelopes upon which to make returns, blank forms for certifying returns and whatever further supplies are needed for holding the elections and making the returns thereof. The poll books shall bear upon each page the following heading: "Names of persons voting at precinct No...... in the District of ....................... in the county of ...................... on this (the) ................. day of ................. in the year ........" Such poll books shall have columns headed respectively: "Number of Voters," "Signature of Voter" and "Challenge of Voter", and shall have under the heading "Number of Voters" numbers in consecutive order to the bottom of each page. Forms for oaths of commissioners of election and poll clerks shall be written or printed on the poll books. Each ballot box shall be provided with two locks with different keys so that the key for one lock will not open the other and shall be so constructed as to be safely and securely closed and locked, with an opening in the lid of the box sufficient only for the passage of a single ballot.
(1) The term "standard receiving board" means those election officials charged with conducting the process of voting within a precinct and consists of five persons, including one team of poll clerks, one team of election commissioners for the ballot box and one additional election commissioner: Provided, That if a municipal election is held at a time when there is no county or state election, the standard receiving board is to consist of four persons, including one team of poll clerks and one team of election commissioners for the ballot box;
(5) The term "election official trainee" means an individual who is sixteen or seventeen years of age who meets the requirements of subdivisions (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6), subsection (a), section twenty-eight of this article. who serves as a trainee to the standard receiving board on a volunteer basis by assisting the standard receiving board in performing its official duties and who receives credits for an official community service program as may be required to obtain a high school diploma
(3) In any election conducted using paper ballots, counting boards may be allowed disallowed or required as follows:
(A) For any state, county or municipal special election, no a counting board may be allowed at the discretion of the county commission;
(c) For each primary and general election in the county, the county commission shall designate the number and type of election boards for the various precincts according to the provisions of this section. At least eighty-four days before each primary and general election the county commission shall notify the county executive committees of the two major political parties in writing of the number of nominations which may be made for poll clerks and election commissioners.
(d) For each municipal election, the governing body of the municipality shall perform the duties of the county commission as provided in this section.
(e) For each primary, general or special election in the county, the county commission, and for each municipal election, the governing body of the municipality, may appoint one or two election official trainees for each precinct.
(a) Any person desiring to vote in an election shall, upon entering the election room, clearly state his or her name and residence to one of the poll clerks who shall thereupon announce the same in a clear and distinct tone of voice. If that person is found to be duly registered as a voter at that precinct, he or she shall sign his or her name in the space marked "signature of voter" on the pollbook designated location provided for at the precinct. If that person is physically or otherwise unable to sign his or her name, his or her mark shall be affixed by one of the poll clerks in the presence of the other and the name of the poll clerk affixing the voter's mark shall be indicated immediately under the affixation. No ballot may be given to the person until he or she signs his or her name on the pollbook designated location or his or her signature is affixed thereon.
(c) When the voter's signature is properly on the pollbook marked, the two poll clerks shall sign their names in the places indicated on the back of the official ballot and deliver the ballot to the voter to be voted by him or her without leaving the election room. If he or she returns the ballot spoiled to the clerks, they shall immediately mark the ballot "spoiled" and it shall be preserved and placed in a spoiled ballot envelope together with other spoiled ballots to be delivered to the board of canvassers and deliver to the voter another official ballot, signed by the clerks on the reverse side. The voter shall thereupon retire alone to the booth or compartment prepared within the election room for voting purposes and there prepare his or her ballot. In voting for candidates in general and special elections, the voter shall comply with the rules and procedures prescribed in section five, article six of this chapter.
(e)(1) No voter may receive any assistance in voting unless, by reason of blindness, disability, advanced age or inability to read and write, that voter is unable to vote without assistance. Any voter qualified to receive assistance in voting under the provisions of this section may:
(2) (3) Any voter who requests assistance in voting but who is believed not to be qualified for assistance under the provisions of this section shall nevertheless be permitted to vote a provisional ballot with the assistance of any person herein authorized to render assistance.
(3) (4) Any one or more of the election commissioners or poll clerks in the precinct may challenge the ballot on the ground that the voter thereof received assistance in voting it when in his, her or their opinion the person who received assistance in voting is not so illiterate, blind, disabled or of such advanced age as to have been unable to vote without assistance. The election commissioner or poll clerk or commissioners or poll clerks making the challenge shall enter the challenge and reason therefor on the form and in the manner prescribed or authorized by article three of this chapter.
(4) (5) An election commissioner or other person who assists a voter in voting:
(5) (6) In accordance with instructions issued by the Secretary of State, the clerk of the county commission shall provide a form entitled "list of assisted voters", the form of which list shall likewise be prescribed by the Secretary of State. The commissioners shall enter the name of each voter receiving assistance in voting the ballot, together with the poll slip number of that voter and the signature of the person or the commissioner from each party who assisted the voter. If no voter has been assisted in voting, the commissioners shall likewise make and subscribe to an oath of that fact on the list.
(f) After preparing the ballot, the voter shall fold the ballot so that the face is not exposed and so that the names of the poll clerks thereon are seen. The voter shall announce his or her name and present his or her ballot to one of the commissioners who shall hand the same to another commissioner, of a different political party, who shall deposit it in the ballot box if the ballot is the official one and properly signed. The commissioner of election may inspect every ballot before it is deposited in the ballot box to ascertain whether it is single, but without unfolding or unrolling it so as to disclose its content. When the voter has voted, he or she shall retire immediately from the election room and beyond the sixty-foot limit thereof and may not return except by permission of the commissioners.
(h) Any person making an oath or affirmation required under the provisions of this section who knowingly swears falsely or any person who counsels, advises, aids or abets another in the commission of false swearing under this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or confined in the county or regional jail for a period of not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(i) Any election commissioner or poll clerk who authorizes or provides unchallenged assistance to a voter when the voter is known to the election commissioner or poll clerk not to require assistance in voting is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(4) If any other valid challenge exists against the voter pursuant to section ten, article three of this chapter.
(b) Any person challenged shall nevertheless be permitted to vote in the election. He or she shall be furnished an official ballot not endorsed by the poll clerks. In lieu of the endorsements, the poll clerks shall complete and sign an appropriate form indicating the challenge, the reason thereof and the name or names of the challengers. The form shall be securely attached to the voter's ballot and deposited together with the ballot in a separate box or envelope marked "provisional ballots".
(d) (e) Provisional ballots may not be counted by the election officials. The county commission shall, on its own motion, at the time of canvassing of the election returns, sit in session to determine the validity of any challenges according to the provisions of this chapter. If the county commission determines that the challenges are unfounded, each provisional ballot of each challenged voter, if otherwise valid, shall be counted and tallied together with the regular ballots cast in the election. The county commission, as the board of canvassers, shall protect the privacy of each provisional ballot cast. The county commission shall disregard technical errors, omissions or oversights if it can reasonably be ascertained that the challenged voter was entitled to vote.
(e) (f) Any person duly appointed as an election commissioner or clerk under the provisions of section twenty-eight of this article who serves in that capacity in a precinct other than the precinct in which the person is legally entitled to vote may cast a provisional ballot in the precinct in which the person is serving as a commissioner or clerk. The ballot is not invalid for the sole reason of having been cast in a precinct other than the precinct in which the person is legally entitled to vote. The county commission shall record the provisional ballot on the voter's permanent registration record: Provided, That the county commission may count only the votes for the offices that the voter was legally authorized to vote for in his or her own precinct.
(f) (g) The Secretary of State shall establish a free access system, which may include a toll-free telephone number or an internet website, that may be accessed by any individual who casts a provisional ballot to discover whether his or her vote was counted and, if not, the reason that the vote was not counted.