HB2464 PS AM 3-18

HB2464 PS AM 3-18
C. Roskovensky 3338
The Committee on Political Subdivisions moves to amend the bill on page one, line fifteen, by striking everything after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
" That §3-3-2a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. VOTING BY ABSENTEES.
§3-3-2a. Early voting areas; prohibition against display of campaign material.

(a) Early voting shall take place at the county courthouse or the annex to the courthouse.
(b) A county clerk may request that the county commission designate an additional location within the county for early voting, other than the county courthouse or annex of the courthouse.
(c) Throughout the period of early in-person voting, the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall make the following provisions for voting:
(1) The official shall provide a sufficient number of voting booths or devices appropriate to the voting system at which voters may prepare their ballots. The booths or devices are to be in an area separate from but within clear view of the public entrance area of the official's office or other area designated by the county commission for absentee voting and are to be arranged to ensure the voter complete privacy in casting the ballot.
(2) The official shall make the voting area secure from interference with the voter and shall ensure that voted and unvoted ballots are at all times secure from tampering. No person, other than a person lawfully assisting the voter according to the provisions of this chapter, may be permitted to come within five feet of the voting booth while the voter is voting. No person, other than the officials or employees of the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting or members of the board of ballot commissioners assigned to conduct absentee voting, may enter the area or room set aside for voting.
(3) The official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall request the county commission designate another area within the county courthouse, any annex of the courthouse or any other designated early voting locations within the county, as a portion of the official's office, for the purpose of absentee voting in the following circumstances:
(A) If the voting area is not accessible to voters with physical disabilities;
(B) If the voting area is not within clear view of the public entrance of the office of the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting; or
(C) If there is no suitable area for absentee voting within the office.
Any designated area is subject to the same requirements as the regular absentee voting area.
(4) The official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall have at least two representatives to assist with absentee voting: Provided, That the two representatives ~~shall~~ may not be registered with the same political party affiliation or two persons registered with no political party affiliation. The representatives may be full-time employees, temporary employees hired for the period of absentee voting in person or volunteers.
(5) No person may do any electioneering nor may any person display or distribute in any manner, or authorize the display or distribution of, any literature, posters or material of any kind which tends to influence the voting for or against any candidate or any public question on the property of the county courthouse, or any annex facilities, or any other designated early voting locations within the county, during the entire period of regular in-person absentee voting. The official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting is ~~hereby~~ authorized to remove the material and to direct the sheriff of the county to enforce the prohibition.
(d) The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules, according to the provisions article three, chapter twenty-nine to implement the additional location for early voting and to assist in determining another designated early voting location.