COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2962
(By Delegates Amores and Trump)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[March 22, 2005]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §3-6-13, relating to
authorizing the Secretary of State to train, appoint and pay
expenses for volunteer election observers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §3-6-13, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 6. CONDUCT AND ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS.
§3-6-13. Volunteer Election Observers.
(a) The Secretary of State may appoint, train and pay expenses
for teams of volunteer election observers for primary, general and
special elections as follows:
(1) Each team shall have two or three members;
(2) No two members of a team may be of the same political
party;
(3) Each member must be an eligible voter in this state;
(4) Each member must successfully complete training in the
conduct of free and fair elections in this state as prescribed and
provided by the office of the Secretary of State;
(5) Teams shall have total access to observe all county and
municipal election activities in the vote counting centers on the
day of the election from the time the polls open until the
unofficial returns are posted;
(6) Volunteer election observers may be reimbursed for
reasonable travel costs and the reasonable cost of lodging for one
night from funds appropriated to the office of the Secretary of
State;
(7) A volunteer election observer may not serve as an observer
in his or her own county of residence or in any county contiguous
to the volunteer election observer's county of residence; and
(8) A volunteer election observer may not be a candidate, an
immediate family member of a candidate or an employee of a
candidate or candidate's campaign committee if the candidate's name
appears on the ballot in the county in which the volunteer election
observer serves.
(b) Nothing in this section may be construed to permit
nonresident observers in any polling or ballot counting place in
this state.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Secretary
of State to appoint, train and pay the necessary expenses of volunteer election observers in this state.
This section is new, therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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