Bill Text: WV HB2417 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requiring write-in candidates for public office to pay a filing fee

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-01-12 - To House Judiciary [HB2417 Detail]

Download: West_Virginia-2011-HB2417-Introduced.html

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H. B. 2417

(By Delegates Shaver, Mahan, Pethtel, Martin,
Williams and Talbott)

[Introduced January 12, 2011 ; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §3-5-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §3-6-4a of said code, all relating to elections; requiring write-in candidates for public office to pay a filing fee for the office sought; and providing for distribution of the fee in the same manner as other candidates.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-5-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §3-6-4a of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.
§3-5-8. Filing fees and their disposition.
When filing a certificate of announcement, every person who becomes a candidate for nomination for or election to office in any primary election shall, at the time of filing the certificate of announcement as required in this article, or who seeks nomination or election as a write-in candidate under the provisions of section four-a, article six of this chapter is required to pay a filing fee as follows:
(a) The filing fee for a candidate for President of the United States, for Vice President of the United States, for United States Senator, for member of the United States House of Representatives, for Governor and for all other state elective offices shall pay a fee is an amount equivalent to one percent of the annual salary of the office for which the candidate announces Provided, except that the filing fee for any a candidate for President or Vice President of the United States shall may not exceed $2,500; commencing with the 2004 filing period;
(b) The filing fee for a candidate for the office of judge of a circuit court and judge of a family court shall pay a fee is an amount equivalent to one percent of the total annual salary of the office for which the candidate announces announced;
(c) The filing fee for a candidate for member of the House of Delegates shall pay a fee of is an amount equivalent to one-half percent of the total annual salary of the office and, for a candidate for state senator, shall pay a fee of an amount equivalent to one percent of the total annual salary of the office;
(d) The filing fee for a candidate for sheriff, prosecuting attorney, circuit clerk, county clerk, assessor, member of the county commission and magistrate shall pay a fee is an amount equivalent to one percent of the annual salary the candidate announces excluding any additional compensation or commission of the office. for which the candidate announces. The filing fee for a candidate for county board of education shall pay a fee of is $25. A candidate for any other county office shall pay a fee of The filing fee for candidates of any other county office is $10;
(e) Delegates to the national convention of any political party shall are required to pay the following filing fees:
A candidate for delegate-at-large, shall pay a fee of $20 and a candidate for delegate from a congressional district, shall pay a fee of $10; The filing fee for a candidate for delegate-at-large is $20. The fee for a candidate for delegate from a congressional district is $10.
(f) Candidates for members of political executive committees and other political committees shall are required to pay the following filing fees:
A candidate for member of a state executive committee of any political party, shall pay a fee of $20; a candidate for member of a county executive committee of any a political party, shall pay a fee of $10; and a candidate for member of a congressional, senatorial or delegate district committee of any political party, shall pay a fee of $5. The filing fee for a candidate for member of a state executive committee is $20. The fee for a member of a county executive committee of a political party is $10. The fee for a candidate for member of a congressional, senatorial or delegate district committee of a political party is $5.
Candidates filing for an office to be filled by the voters of one county shall pay the filing fee to the clerk of the county commission. and Candidates filing for an office to be filled by the voters of more than one county shall pay the filing fee to the Secretary of State. at the time of filing their certificates of announcement. and No certificate of announcement shall may be received until the filing fee is paid.
All moneys received by the clerk from the fees shall be Fees received by the clerk of the county commission shall be credited to the general county fund by the clerk. Moneys received by the Secretary of State from fees paid by candidates for offices to be filled by all the voters of the state shall be Fees received by the Secretary of State, including fees from candidates for statewide offices and from candidates for office in a district or judicial circuit of more than one county, shall be deposited in a special fund for that purpose and shall be apportioned and paid by him or her the Secretary of State to the several counties and that received from candidates from a district or judicial circuit of more than one county shall be apportioned to the counties comprising the district or judicial circuit in like manner. When such moneys are on the basis of population. Filing fees received by sheriffs it shall be credited to the general county fund.
ARTICLE 6. CONDUCT AND ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS.
§3-6-4a. Filing requirements for write-in candidates.
Any An eligible person who seeks to be elected by write-in votes to an office except delegate to national convention, which is to be filled in a primary, general or special election held under the provisions of this chapter, shall is required to file a write- in candidate's certificate of announcement as provided in this section. No certificate of announcement may be accepted and no person may be certified as a write-in candidate for a political party nomination for any office or for election as delegate to national convention.
(a) The write-in candidate's certificate of announcement shall must be in a form prescribed by the Secretary of State on which the candidate shall make makes a sworn statement, before a notary public or other officer authorized to give oaths, containing and provides the following information:
(1) The name of the office sought and the district and division, if any;
(2) The legal name of the candidate and the first and last name by which the candidate may be identified in seeking the office;
(3) The specific address designating the location at which the candidate resides the candidate's residence at the time of filing, including number and street or rural route and box number and city, state and zip code;
(4) A statement that the person filing the certificate of announcement is a candidate for the office in good faith; and
(5) The words "subscribed and sworn to before me this ______ day of _____________, ____" and a space for the signature of the officer giving the oath; and
(6) A filing fee in the amount required by the provisions of section eight, article five of this chapter for the office sought. All fees collected from write-in candidates are distributed in the same manner as provided by the provisions of section eight, article five of this chapter.
(b) The certificate of announcement shall be filed with the filing officer for the political division of the office as prescribed in section seven, article five of this chapter.
(c) The certificate of announcement shall be filed with and received by the proper filing officer as follows:
(1) Except as provided in subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection, the certificate of announcement for any office shall must be received no later than the close of business on the forty- second day before the election; at which the office is to be filled;
(2) When a vacancy occurs in the nomination of candidates for an office on the ballot resulting from the death of the nominee or from the disqualification or removal of a nominee from the ballot by a court of competent jurisdiction not earlier than the twenty- first day nor later than the fifth day between and including the fifth and twenty-first day before the general election, the certificate shall must be received no later than the close of business on the fifth day before the election or the close of business on the day following the occurrence of the vacancy, whichever is later;
(3) When a vacancy occurs in an elective office which would not otherwise appear on the ballot in the election but which and creates an unexpired term of one or more years which, according to the provisions of this chapter, is to be filled by election in the next ensuing election and the vacancy occurs no earlier than the twenty-first day and no later than the fifth day between and including the fifth and twenty-first day before the general election, the certificate shall must be received no later than the close of business on the fifth day before the election or the close of business on the day following the occurrence of the vacancy, whichever is later.
(d) Any An eligible person who files a completed write-in candidate's certificate of announcement with the proper filing officer within the required time shall be certified by that filing officer as an official write-in candidate:
(1) Immediately following the filing deadline, the Secretary of State shall immediately following the filing deadline, post the names of all official write-in candidates for offices on the ballot in more than one county and certify the name of each official write-in candidate to the clerks of the county commissions of the appropriate counties.
(2) Immediately following the filing deadline, the clerk of the county commission shall immediately following the filing deadline, post the names of all official write-in candidates for offices on the ballot in one county and certify and deliver to the election officials of the appropriate precincts the names of all official write-in candidates and the office sought by each for statewide, district and county offices on the ballot in the precinct for which valid write-in votes will be counted. and the names shall be posted at the office The clerk of the county commission shall post the names of write-in candidates within the area where absentee voting is conducted and at the precincts in accordance with section twenty, article one of this chapter.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require write-in candidates for public office to pay a filing fee for the office sought and to provide for distribution of the fee in the same manner as other candidates.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.