Bill Text: MS HB208 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: County school board members; require to declare party affiliation and be elected by a majority vote.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2013-02-05 - Died In Committee [HB208 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2013-HB208-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Moore
House Bill 208
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-5-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE CANDIDATES FOR THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DECLARE THE POLITICAL PARTY WITH WHICH THEY ARE AFFILIATED; TO PROVIDE THAT THE CANDIDATE WHO RECEIVES A MAJORITY OF THE VOTES CAST IN THE GENERAL ELECTION SHALL BE ELECTED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 37-5-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
[Until the date Section 1, Chapter 470, Laws of 2009, is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended, this section shall read as follows:]
37-5-9. (1) The
name of any qualified elector who is a candidate for the county board of
education and the political party with which the candidate is affiliated
shall be placed on the ballot used in the general elections by the county
election commissioners, provided that the candidate files with the county
election commissioners, not more than ninety (90) days and not less than sixty
(60) days * * * before
the date of * * * the
general election, a petition of nomination signed by not less than fifty (50)
qualified electors of the county residing within each supervisors district. The
petition of nomination must include the name of the political party with which
the candidate is affiliated. Where there are * * * fewer than one hundred (100)
qualified electors in * * * the
supervisors district, it shall only be required that * * * the petition of nomination be signed
by at least twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of * * *
the supervisors
district. The candidate in each supervisors district who receives * * *
a majority
of the votes cast in the district shall be declared elected.
(2) When any member
of the county board of education is to be elected from the county at large
under the provisions of this chapter, then the petition required by * * *
subsection
(1) of this section shall be signed by the required number of qualified
electors residing in any part of the county outside of the territory embraced
within a municipal separate school district or special municipal separate
school district. The candidate who receives * * * a majority of the
votes cast in the * * * county
shall be declared elected.
(3) In no case shall any qualified elector residing within a municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district be eligible to sign a petition of nomination for any candidate for the county board of education under any of the provisions of this section.
[From and after the date Section 1, Chapter 470, Laws of 2009, is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended, this section shall read as follows:]
37-5-9. (1) The name of
any qualified elector who is a candidate for the county board of education and
the political party with which the candidate is affiliated shall be placed
on the ballot used in the general elections by the county election
commissioners, provided that the candidate files with the county election
commissioners, not more than ninety (90) days and not less than sixty (60) days * * *
before the date of * * *
the general election, a
petition of nomination signed by not less than fifty (50) qualified electors of
the county residing within each supervisors district. The petition of
nomination must include the name of the political party with which the
candidate is affiliated. Where there are * * * fewer than one hundred (100)
qualified electors in the supervisors district, it shall only be required that
the petition of nomination be signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of the
qualified electors of * * * the
supervisors district. The candidate in each supervisors district who receives
a majority of the votes cast in the district must be declared elected. If no
candidate receives a majority of the votes cast in the general election, then
the two (2) candidates who receive the highest number of votes cast in the
district shall have their names submitted as candidates in a runoff election
three (3) weeks after the date of the general election, and the candidate who
receives a majority of the votes cast in the district in the runoff election
must be declared elected.
(2) When any member of the
county board of education is to be elected from the county at large under the
provisions of this chapter, then the petition required by subsection (1) of
this section shall be signed by the required number of qualified electors
residing in any part of the county outside of the territory embraced within a
municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school
district. The candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast in the
county * * * shall
be declared elected. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast in
the general election, then the two (2) candidates who receive the highest
number of votes cast in the county shall have their names submitted as
candidates in a runoff election three (3) weeks after the date of the general
election, and the candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast in the
county in the runoff election must be declared elected.
(3) In no case shall any qualified elector residing within a municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district be eligible to sign a petition of nomination for any candidate for the county board of education under any of the provisions of this section.
SECTION 2. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.
