Senate Bill No. 340
(By Senators Craigo, Ross, Buckalew and Dittmar)
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[Introduced February 8, 1996;
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; and providing that special elections
be held during primary or general elections, except for
special school levy elections.
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. 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 election at
six-thirty o'clock in the forenoon 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, assign a title to such proposed amendment and shall set
forth a summary of the purpose of such proposed amendment. If
the Legislature shall fail in any such resolution to include a
title and summary, or either, the secretary of state shall supply
such omission or omissions, and certify the same to the ballot
commissioners of each county. Whether set forth in such
resolution or certified by the secretary of state, it shall be
the duty of the ballot commissioners in each county to place upon
the official ballot at the election at which such 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 proposed constitutional amendment.
The Legislature may, in the joint resolution, give a
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 amendment on the ballot shall be in accordance
with the number so designated. 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.