COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 447

(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Sprouse,

By Request of the Executive)

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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported February 23, 2000.]

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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; to amend and reenact section four, article five of said chapter; and to amend and reenact section one, article one, chapter fifty-one of said code, all relating to nomination and election of justices of the supreme court by divisions; establishing numbered divisions corresponding to the number of supreme court justices; providing that secretary of state designate divisions and determine how candidates select a division; providing internal effective date; and providing for election of one justice from each numbered division.

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; that section four, article five of said chapter be amended and reenacted; and that section one, article one, chapter fifty-one of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 3. ELECTIONS.

ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
§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 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 justices 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 justices of the supreme court of appeals: Provided, That any general election to elect a justice of the supreme court of appeals held after the year two thousand, the election shall be for a numbered division as provided in section one, article one, chapter fifty-one of this code.
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 one or more justices is to be chosen for numbered divisions of the supreme court of appeals in any primary election held after the year two thousand, 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) in the supreme court of appeals with regard to any primary election held after the year two thousand, 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.
CHAPTER 51. COURTS AND THEIR OFFICERS.

ARTICLE 1. SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS.
§51-1-1. Justices.
The supreme court of appeals shall consist of five justices, elected and qualified according to the constitution and the laws of this state, any three of whom shall constitute a quorum. Beginning with the first primary and general elections to be conducted after the year two thousand, there shall be for election purposes numbered divisions corresponding to the number of justices on the supreme court of appeals. The secretary of state shall determine the numbered divisions and the manner in which candidates select a numbered division. In each numbered division of the supreme court of appeals, the candidates for election shall be voted upon and the votes cast for the candidates in each numbered division shall be tallied separately from the votes cast for candidates in other numbered divisions within the supreme court of appeals. The candidate receiving the highest number of the votes cast within a numbered division shall be elected.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for elections of justices of the supreme court of appeals by numbered divisions.

Strike-throughs indicate language to be stricken from the current law, and underscoring indicates new language.)