H. B. 2717
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chambers, and Delegates Rowe, Kiss
Ashley, Pino and Jenkins)
(Introduced February 24, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.)
A BILL to amend and reenact section sixteen, article one, chapter
three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section four, article five of said chapter, all relating to
the nomination and election of justices of the supreme court
of appeals generally; and providing for the separation of
the judgeships of the supreme court of appeals into numbered
divisions for election purposes only.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section sixteen, 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 four, article
five of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. ELECTIONS.
§3-1-16. Election of state officers.
At the general election to be held in the year one thousand
nine hundred sixty-eight, and in every fourth year thereafter,
there shall be elected a governor, secretary of state, treasurer,
auditor, attorney general, and commissioner of agriculture. At
the general election in the year one thousand nine hundred sixty-
eight, and in every second year thereafter, there shall be
elected a member of the state Senate for each senatorial
district, and a member or members of the House of Delegates of
the state from each county or each delegate district. At the
general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred
sixty-eight, and in every twelfth year thereafter, there shall be
elected one judge justice for division one of the supreme court
of appeals, and at the general election to be held in the year
one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, and in every twelfth year
thereafter, two judges one justice for division two and one
justice for division three of the supreme court of appeals, and
at the general election to be held in the year one thousand nine
hundred seventy-six, and in every twelfth year thereafter, two
judges one justice for division four and one justice for division
five of the supreme court of appeals. Division two of the
supreme court of appeals shall be distinguished from division three by determining which of the two incumbent justices, as of
the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four,
had the longest service as a justice of the court, and
designating the judgeship held by that justice as division two.
Division four of the supreme court of appeals shall be
distinguished from division five by determining which of the two
incumbent justices, as of the first day of January, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-four, had the longest service as a justice of
the court, and designating the judgeship held by that justice as
division four.
ARTICLE 5. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.
§3-5-4. Nomination of candidates in primary elections.
At each primary election, the candidate or candidates of
each political party for all offices to be filled at the ensuing
general election by the voters of the entire state, of each
congressional district, of each state senatorial district, of
each delegate district, of each judicial circuit of West
Virginia, of each county, and of each magisterial district in the
state shall be nominated by the voters of the different political
parties, except that no presidential elector shall be nominated
at a primary election.
In primary elections a plurality of the votes cast shall be
sufficient for the nomination of candidates for office. Where only one candidate of a political party for any office in a
political division, including party committeemen and delegates to
national conventions, is to be chosen, or where a judicial
circuit has two or more circuit judges and one circuit judge is
to be chosen for each numbered division within the circuit, or
where two or more justices of the supreme court of appeals are to
be chosen and one justice is to be chosen for each numbered
division of the court for which an unexpired term or a full term
is required to be filled, the candidate receiving the highest
number of votes therefor in the primary election shall be
declared the party nominee for such office. Where two or more
such candidates are to be chosen in the primary election, the
candidates constituting the proper number to be so chosen who
shall receive the highest number of votes cast in the political
division in which they are candidates shall be declared the party
nominees and choices for such offices, except that: (1)
Candidates for the office of commissioner of the county
commission shall be nominated and elected in accordance with the
provisions of section ten, article nine of the Constitution of
the state of West Virginia; (2) members of county boards of
education shall be elected at primary elections in accordance
with the provisions of sections five and six of this article; (3)
candidates for the House of Delegates shall be nominated and elected in accordance with the residence restrictions provided in
section two, article two, chapter one of this code; and (4) in
judicial circuits having numbered divisions, each numbered
division shall be tallied separately and the candidate in each
division receiving a plurality of the votes cast shall be
declared the party nominee for the office in that numbered
division.; and (5) when two or more justices of the supreme court
of appeals are to be chosen and one justice is to be chosen for
each numbered division of the court for which an unexpired term
or a full term is required to be filled, each numbered division
shall be tallied separately and the candidate in each division
receiving a plurality of the votes cast shall be declared the
party nominee for the office in that numbered division.
In case of tie votes between candidates for party
nominations or elections in primary elections, the choice of the
political party shall be determined by the executive committee of
the party for the political division in which such persons are
candidates.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to separate the
judgeships of the Supreme Court of Appeals into numbered
divisions for the purposes of elections.