Senate Bill No. 696
(By Senators Oliverio and Tomblin, Mr. President)
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[Introduced February 23, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §3-3-8 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, relating to
absentee ballots; and providing that counties using
nonelectronic voting machines may begin counting absentee
ballots beginning at nine a.m. on election day.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-3-8 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. VOTING BY ABSENTEES.
§3-3-8. Disposition and counting of absent voters' ballots.
(a) In counties using paper ballots, all absentee ballots
shall be processed as follows:
(1) The ballot boxes containing the absentee ballots shall be
opened in the presence of the clerk of the county commission and
two representatives of opposite political parties;
(2) The ballots shall be separated by precincts as stated on
the sealed envelopes containing the ballots; and
(3) Absentee ballots shall be delivered to the polls to be
opened and counted in accordance with section thirty-three, article
one of this chapter, section fifteen, article five of this chapter;
and section six, article six of this chapter. Disclosure of any
results before the voting has been closed and the precinct returns
posted on the door of the polling place shall be a per se violation
of the oath taken by the counting board:
Provided, That in
counties using nonelectronic voting machines, absentee counting
shall be conducted by absentee ballot counting commissioners and
the composition of each team shall consist of the same combination
of election officials as provided for a counting board in
subdivision (3), subsection (a), section twenty-nine, article one
of this chapter. In counties using nonelectronic voting machines,
the counting board may begin counting absentee ballots beginning at
nine a.m. on election day. In all other counties, counting is to
begin immediately after closing of the polls.
(b) In the counties using punch card systems, the absentee
ballots shall be processed as follows:
(1) On election day, the ballot boxes containing the absentee
ballots shall be delivered to the central counting center and
opened in the presence of the clerk of the county commission and
two representatives of opposite political parties;
(2) The ballots shall be separated by precincts as stated on
the sealed envelopes containing the ballots; and
(3) The absentee ballots shall be counted in accordance with
section twenty-seven, article four-a of this chapter.
(c) In counties using optical scan systems, the absentee
ballots shall be processed as follows:
(1) On election day, the ballot boxes containing the absentee
ballots shall be delivered to the central counting center and
opened in the presence of the clerk of the county commission and
two representatives of opposite political parties; and
(2) The absentee ballots shall be counted in accordance with
section twenty-seven, article four-a of this chapter.
(d) In counties using direct recording elections systems, the
absentee ballots shall be counted in accordance with section
twenty-seven, article four-a of this chapter.
(e) The provisional ballots shall be deposited in a
provisional ballot envelope and delivered to the board of
canvassers.
(f) Any election official who determines a person has voted an
absent voter's ballot and has also voted at the polls on election
day must report the fact to the prosecuting attorney of the county
in which the votes were cast.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that counties
using nonelectronic voting machines may begin counting absentee
ballots beginning at nine a.m. on election day.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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