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.