Senate Bill No. 293
(By Senators Whitlow, By Request and Bailey)
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[Introduced February 8, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twelve, article eight,
chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to elections;
regulation and control of election; circulation of written
matter; requiring all printed campaign material to contain
the party affiliation of the person or candidate authorizing
the printing; and criminal penalty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twelve, article eight, chapter three of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. REGULATION AND CONTROL OF ELECTIONS.
§3-8-12. Additional acts forbidden; circulation of written
matter; newspaper advertising; solicitation of
contributions; intimidation and coercion of employees;
promise of employment or other benefits; limitations on
contributions; public contractors; penalty.
(a) No person shall may publish, issue or circulate,
or cause to be published, issued or circulated, any anonymous
letter, circular, placard, or other publication tending to
influence voting at any election, nor may any person publish,
issue or circulate, or cause to be published, issued or
circulated, any printed matter either for or against the
nomination or election of any candidate unless the party
affiliation of the sponsor and the candidate in whose behalf it
is issued is clearly indicated;
(b) No owner, publisher, editor or employee of a
newspaper or other periodical shall may insert, either in its
advertising or reading columns, any matter, paid for or to be
paid for, which tends to influence the voting at any election
whatever, unless directly designating it as a paid advertisement
and stating the name of the person authorizing its publication,
and the candidate in whose behalf it is published, and the party affiliation thereof;
(c) No person shall, in any room or building occupied
for the discharge of official duties by any officer or employee
of the state or a political subdivision thereof, solicit orally
or by written communication delivered therein, or in any other
manner, any contribution of money or other thing of value for any
party or political purpose whatever, from any postmaster or any
other officer or employee of the federal government, or officer
or employee of the state, or a political subdivision thereof.
No officer, agent, clerk or employee of the federal government,
or of this state, or any political subdivision thereof, who may
have charge or control of any building, office or room, occupied
for any official purpose, shall knowingly permit any person to
enter the same for the purpose of therein soliciting or receiving
any political assessments from, or delivering or giving written
solicitations for, or any notice of, any political assessments
to, any officer or employee of the state, or a political
subdivision thereof;
(d) Except as provided in section eight of this
article no person entering into any contract with the state or
its subdivisions, or any department or agency thereof, either for rendition of personal services or furnishing any material,
supplies or equipment or selling any land or building to the
state, or its subdivisions, or any department or agency thereof,
if payment for the performance of such contract or payment for
such material, supplies, equipment, land or building is to be
made in whole or in part from public funds shall, during the
period of negotiation for or performance under such contract or
furnishing of materials, supplies, equipment, land or buildings,
directly or indirectly make any contribution to any political
party, committee or candidate for public office or to any person
for political purposes or use; nor shall any person or firm
solicit any contributions for any such purpose during any such
period;
(e) No person shall, directly or indirectly, promise
any employment, position, work, compensation or other benefit
provided for, or made possible, in whole or in part by act of the
Legislature, to any person as consideration, favor or reward for
any political activity for the support of or opposition to any
candidate, or any political party in any election;
(f) No person shall, directly or indirectly, make any
contribution in excess of the value of one thousand dollars in connection with any campaign for nomination or election to or on
behalf of any statewide or national elective office, or in excess
of the value of one thousand dollars, in connection with any
other campaign for nomination or election to or on behalf of any
other elective office in the state or any of its subdivisions, or
in connection with or on behalf of any committee or other
organization or person engaged in furthering, advancing or
advocating the nomination or election of any candidate for any
such office;
(g) No person shall solicit any contribution from any
nonelective salaried employee of the state government or of any
of its subdivisions or coerce or intimidate any such employee
into making such contribution. No person shall coerce or
intimidate any nonsalaried employee of the state government or
any of its subdivisions into engaging in any form of political
activity. The provisions hereof shall not be construed to
prevent any such employee from making such a contribution or from
engaging in political activity voluntarily, without coercion,
intimidation or solicitation; and
(h) No person shall solicit a contribution from any
other person without informing such other person at the time of such solicitation of the amount of any commission, remuneration
or other compensation that the solicitor or any other person will
receive or expect to receive as a direct result of such
contribution being successfully collected. Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to apply to solicitations of
contributions made by any person serving as an unpaid volunteer.
Any person violating any provision of this section
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in
jail for not more than one year, or, in the discretion of the
court, be subject to both such fine and imprisonment.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that
all campaign material and paid political advertising clearly
state the party affiliation of the sponsor or the candidate in
whose behalf the material is issued.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be
stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new
language that would be added.