Senate Bill No. 647
(By Senators
Kessler, Browning, Foster, Jenkins, Laird, Minard,
Oliverio, Palumbo, Snyder, Stollings, Williams, Yost, Barnes,
Caruth, Deem and Hall
)
____________
[
Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported
March 19, 2009
.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to authorizing Class IV cities to
conduct early voting by mail; requiring adoption of an
ordinance; and requiring the Secretary of State to propose
rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. VOTING BY ABSENTEES.
§3-3-3. Early voting in person.
(a) The voting period for early in-person voting is to be
conducted during regular business hours beginning on the twentieth
day before the election and continuing through the third day before
the election. For any election held on a Tuesday, the early voting
period for in-person voting is to be available from 9:00 a. m. to
5:00 p. m. on the two Saturdays prior to the election.
(b) Any person desiring to vote during the period of early in-person voting shall, upon entering the election room, clearly
state his or her name and residence to the official or
representative designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting.
If that person is found to be duly registered as a voter in the
precinct of his or her residence, he or she shall be required to
sign his or her name in the space marked "signature of voter" on
the pollbook. If the voter is unable to sign his or her name due
to illiteracy or physical disability, the person assisting the
voter and witnessing the mark of the voter shall sign his or her
name in the space provided. No ballot may be given to the person
until he or she signs his or her name on the pollbook.
(c) When the voter's signature or mark is properly on the
pollbook, two qualified representatives of the official designated
to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall sign their names in
the places indicated on the back of the official ballot.
(d) If the official designated to supervise and conduct
absentee voting determines that the voter is not properly
registered in the precinct where he or she resides, the clerk or
his or her representative shall challenge the voter's absentee
ballot as provided in this article.
(e) The official designated to supervise and conduct absentee
voting shall provide each person voting an absentee ballot in
person the following items to be printed as prescribed by the
Secretary of State:
(1) In counties using paper ballots, one of each type of
official absentee ballot the voter is eligible to vote, prepared according to law;
(2) In counties using punch card systems, one of each type of
official absentee ballot the voter is eligible to vote, prepared
according to law, and a gray secrecy envelope;
(3) In counties using optical scan systems, one of each type
of official absentee ballot the voter is eligible to vote, prepared
according to law, and a secrecy sleeve; or
(4) For direct recording election systems, access to the
voting equipment in the voting booth.
(f) The voter shall enter the voting booth alone and there
mark the ballot: Provided, That the voter may have assistance in
voting according to the provisions of section four of this article.
After the voter has voted the ballot or ballots, the absentee voter
shall: Place the ballot or ballots in the gray secrecy envelope
and return the ballot or ballots to the official designated to
supervise and conduct the absentee voting: Provided, however, That
in direct recording election systems, once the voter has cast his
or her ballot, the voter shall exit the polling place.
(g) Upon receipt of the voted ballot, representatives of the
official designated to supervise and conduct the absentee voting
shall:
(1) Remove the ballot stub;
(2) Place punch card ballots and paper ballots into one
envelope which shall not have any marks except the precinct number
and seal the envelope;
(3) Place ballots for all voting systems into a ballot box that is secured by two locks with a key to one lock kept by the
president of the county commission and a key to the other lock kept
by the county clerk;
(4) Due to the reenactment of this section by the Legislature
in the 2003 regular session removing authorization for early in-
person voting on the Monday prior to a Tuesday election, to assure
notice to all persons that voted on the Monday before the Tuesday
election day of the 2002 general election are made aware of this
change, the clerk of each county shall, for the primary election of
the year 2004, include along with the sample ballots published in
local newspapers as required by this chapter a notice to voters
that Monday in-person voting will no longer be available.
(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any Class
IV municipality, town or village may adopt an ordinance authorizing
early voting for municipal elections to be conducted by mail. All
other provisions of this article for conducting a municipal
election shall apply. The Secretary of State shall propose for
promulgation emergency and legislative rules to effectuate the
provisions of this subsection. The ordinance shall specify the
requirements and procedures for conducting an election by mail
including:
(1) That a ballot will be mailed to each registered voter in
the municipality no less than three weeks prior to election day;
(2) That each ballot packet shall consist of the actual
ballot, instructions, a secrecy envelope and a ballot return
envelope;
(3) That each ballot will be mailed with detailed instructions
on how to mark the ballot, place it in the secrecy envelop and the
ballot return envelope and sign the ballot return envelope, a
warning that the ballot return envelope must be signed or the
ballot will not be counted, a warning that signing someone else's
ballot return envelope is illegal, an alternative procedure for any
person who is unable to sign a ballot return envelope and a
procedure for returning a spoiled ballot should the voter make a
mistake or otherwise need a new ballot; and
(4) That each ballot must be mailed or brought to the
municipal precinct by the close of the early voting period.
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow small
municipalities to conduct early voting by mail and to provide a
framework for the required ordinance and legislative rules.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
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