Senate Bill No. 50
(By Senators Craigo, Dittmar, Scott, Ross and Sharpe)
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[Introduced February 14, 1997; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-one, article one,
chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and
reenact section two, article eleven of said chapter, all
relating to elections; providing that special elections be
held during primary or general elections, except for special
school levy elections; and providing that a joint resolution
specify the proposed amendment number and designate the
general or primary election at which the proposed
constitutional amendment shall be submitted to the voters.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-one, article one, chapter three of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section two, article eleven of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
§3-1-31. Days and hours of elections.
General elections shall be held in the several election
precincts of the state on the Tuesday next after the first Monday
in November of each even year. Primary
and special elections
shall be held on the days provided by law
therefor for primary
elections. Special elections, except those special elections
that relate to school levies, shall be held during general or
primary elections.
At every primary, general or special election the polls
shall be opened in each precinct on the day of
such the election
at six-thirty o'clock in the
forenoon morning and be closed at
seven-thirty o'clock in the evening.
ARTICLE 11. AMENDMENTS TO THE STATE CONSTITUTION.
§3-11-2. Title and summary of amendment; position on ballot;
designation of election for submission of amendment.
In any joint resolution proposing an amendment to the West
Virginia constitution, for ratification or rejection by the
voters, the Legislature shall for convenience of reference
thereto, to the amendment assign a title to
such the proposed
amendment and shall set forth a summary of the purpose of
such the proposed amendment. If the Legislature
shall fail fails in
any
such resolution to include a title and summary, or either,
the secretary of state shall supply
such the omission or
omissions, and certify the same to the ballot title and summary
of commissioners of each county. Whether set forth in
such the
resolution or certified by the secretary of state, it
shall be is
the duty of the ballot commissioners in each county to place upon
the official ballot at the election at which
such the proposed
amendment is to be voted upon, or upon the ballot label in
counties where voting machines are used, the title and summary of
such the proposed constitutional amendment.
The Legislature may, in the joint resolution, give
a the
proposed amendment a number. If this is done, and if there is
more than one amendment submitted at the same election, the
position of
such the amendment on the ballot shall be in
accordance with the designated number.
so When numbers are not
so designated by the Legislature, the secretary of state, in
certifying the election ballot, shall number the amendments
consecutively in accordance with the dates of their final
submission by the Legislature.
The Legislature shall, in the joint resolution, designate
the
general or primary election at which the proposed
constitutional amendment shall be submitted to the voters.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to hold all special
elections at the time of primary or general elections, except for
special school levy elections.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.