Senate Bill No. 447
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Sprouse
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced February 10, 2000; referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary.]
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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 election of justices of the
supreme court by divisions; establishing numbered divisions
corresponding to the number of supreme court justices;
determination of numbered divisions by chief justice; 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 of
the supreme court of appeals for a numbered division 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 of the supreme court of appeals for two
numbered divisions 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 of
the supreme court of appeals for two numbered divisions of the
supreme court of appeals.
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 ensuring
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, 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 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.
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 primary and general elections to be conducted in 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 chief justice of the supreme court of
appeals shall determine the numbered divisions and the manner in
which candidates select a numbered division, within a reasonable
time following the enactment of this section, but no later than the
first day of April, two thousand. 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create 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.