Senate Bill No. 596
(By Senators Kessler and Plymale)
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[Introduced February 15, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §3-1-2a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to municipal elections; and
providing that municipal personnel responsible for elections
must attend biannual training conducted by the office of the
Secretary of State.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-1-2a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
3-1-2a. Municipal elections.
(a) Notwithstanding other provisions of this code or the
provisions of any special legislative or home rule city charter,
the provisions of: (1) Articles eight and nine of this chapter;
and of (2) any regulations rules promulgated under authority
granted in articles eight and nine of this chapter; and (3) any provisions of this chapter making a practice or conduct unlawful
shall apply to every municipal election held for any purpose.
(b) For the purposes of:
(1) This section; and
(2) The application of articles eight and nine of this
chapter;
(3) The application of the regulations rules mentioned in this
section; and
(4) The application of provisions of this chapter making a
practice or conduct unlawful, the provisions of law which impose
any duty upon or define any offense or prohibition with respect to
the duty or authority of a county officer or county election
officer or body of county election officers shall be construed to
and shall apply with equal force and effect to the person or
persons in a municipal election upon whom this code or the city
charter or ordinance imposes such duty or vests the same or similar
authority.
(c) Every municipality shall by charter or ordinance designate
the persons in such the municipality who perform the same duties as
any officer in a county election. The designated persons shall
attend a biannual election training held and conducted by the
office of the Secretary of State.
(d) This section shall not be construed to abrogate the applicability of other provisions of this chapter to municipal
elections.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require municipal
elections personnel to participate in training conducted by the
office of the Secretary of State.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)