12104669D
SENATE BILL NO. 56
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections
on January 24, 2012)
(Patrons Prior to Substitute--Senators Obenshain, Martin [SB
252] and Smith [275])
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-613 and 24.2-640 of
the Code of Virginia, relating to elections; ballots; party identification of
candidates on ballots.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 24.2-613 and 24.2-640 of the Code of
Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§24.2-613. Form of ballot.
The ballots shall comply with the requirements of this title
and the standards prescribed by the State Board.
For elections for federal, statewide, and General Assembly
offices only, each Each candidate who has been nominated by a
political party or in a primary election shall be identified by the name of his
political party. Independent candidates shall be identified by the term
"Independent." For the purpose of this section, any Independent
candidate may, by producing sufficient and appropriate evidence of nomination
by a "recognized political party" to the State Board, have the term
"Independent" on the ballot converted to that of a "recognized
political party" on the ballot and be treated on the ballot in a manner
consistent with the candidates nominated by political parties. For the purpose
of this section, a "recognized political party" is defined as an
organization that, for at least six months preceding the filing of its nominee
for the office, has had in continual existence a state central committee
composed of registered voters residing in each congressional district of the
Commonwealth, a party plan and bylaws, and a duly elected state chairman and
secretary. A letter from the state chairman of a recognized political party
certifying that a candidate is the nominee of that party and also signed by
such candidate accepting that nomination shall constitute sufficient and
appropriate evidence of nomination by a recognized political party. The name of
the political party, the name of the "recognized political party," or
term "Independent" may be shown by an initial or abbreviation to meet
ballot requirements.
Except as provided for primary elections, the State Board
shall determine by lot the order of the political parties, and the names of all
candidates for a particular office shall appear together in the order determined
for their parties. In an election district in which more than one person is
nominated by one political party for the same office, the candidates' names
shall appear alphabetically in their party groups under the name of the office,
with sufficient space between party groups to indicate them as such. For the
purpose of this section and §24.2-640, except as provided for presidential
elections in §24.2-614, "recognized political parties" shall be
treated as a class; the order of the recognized political parties within the
class shall be determined by lot by the State Board; and the class shall follow
the political parties as defined by §24.2-101 and precede the independent
class. Independent candidates shall be treated as a class under "Independent";
their names shall be placed on the ballot after the political parties and
recognized political parties; and where there is more than one independent
candidate for an office, their names shall appear alphabetically.
No individual's name shall appear on the ballot more than once
for the same office.
In preparing the ballots for general, special and primary
elections, the State Board and electoral boards shall cause to be printed in
not less than 10-point type, immediately below the title of any office, a statement
of the number of candidates who may be voted for for that office. The following
language shall be used: "Vote for not more than ......... ".
At any precinct at which mark sense ballots are used, the mark
sense ballot may be used in lieu of the official paper ballot with the approval
of the State Board.
Any locality which uses mark sense ballots at one or more
precincts, including any central absentee precinct, may, with the approval of
the State Board, use the mark sense ballot or printed reproductions of the mark
sense ballot in lieu of the official paper ballot. Such reproductions shall be
printed and otherwise handled in accordance with all laws and procedures that
apply to official paper ballots.
§24.2-640. Ballots generally.
In every county and city using mechanical or direct electronic
voting systems requiring printed ballots, the electoral board shall furnish a
sufficient number of ballots printed on plain white paper, of such form and
size as will fit the ballot frames. The names of the various candidates shall
be printed in type not less than fourteen point. On mechanical devices, the
name of the office for which candidates are offering for election shall be
printed in reverse printing or overlaid with a colored plastic strip.
For elections for federal, statewide, and General Assembly
offices only, each Each candidate who has been nominated by a
political party or in a primary election shall be identified by the name of his
political party. Independent candidates shall be identified by the term
"Independent." For the purpose of this section, any Independent
candidate may, by producing sufficient and appropriate evidence of nomination
by a "recognized political party" to the State Board, have the term
"Independent" on the ballot converted to that of a "recognized
political party" on the ballot and be treated on the ballot in a manner
consistent with the candidates nominated by political parties. For the purpose
of this section, a "recognized political party" is defined as an
organization that, for at least six months preceding the filing of its nominee
for the office, has had in continual existence a state central committee
composed of registered voters residing in each congressional district of the
Commonwealth, a party plan and bylaws, and a duly elected state chairman and
secretary. A letter from the state chairman of a recognized political party
certifying that a candidate is the nominee of that party and also signed by
such candidate accepting that nomination shall constitute sufficient and
appropriate evidence of nomination by a recognized political party. The name of
the political party, the name of the "recognized political party," or
term "Independent" may be shown by an initial or abbreviation to meet
ballot requirements. All candidates shall be arranged on each device or other
ballot to be electronically counted, either in columns or horizontal rows, and
the caption of the various ballots on the devices shall be placed so that the
voter knows what feature is to be used or operated to vote for his choice. No
push knob, key lever or other device shall be used to vote for any candidate
other than on an individual basis except for presidential electors. In
districts in which more than one person is nominated by a single party for the
same office, the names of the candidates shall appear alphabetically within
their party groups.
The electoral board in any locality which converted from a
mechanical to an electronic voting system after January 1, 1994, may use a
ballot which (i) is similar to the ballot used on the mechanical system
previously used in the locality, (ii) aligns the candidates of each political
party and independent candidates on the same row or column, and (iii) provides
a separate row or column for each political party and for independent
candidates.
The provisions of general law concerning ballots shall apply
unless in conflict with this section.
|