HCS HB 696 -- ELECTIONS (Days)

This substitute makes several changes to election laws.

The substitute:

(1)  Moves the date for filing petitions proposing the formation
of a board of election commissioners in a first class county
from before 5:00 p.m. on the tenth Friday to the thirteenth
Tuesday preceding a general election;

(2)  Authorizes all election authorities to employ attorneys,
not just boards of election commissioners;

(3)  Clarifies that election judges must be registered voters in
the election authority's jurisdiction, which is a county or an
urban election board's area;

(4)  Includes any election day in the requirement that if
candidates from more than one political subdivision or district
are to be voted for at one precinct, then the election authority
must code the ballots to show what candidates and issues the
voter is eligible to vote for based on the voter's place of
residence;

(5)  Removes the requirement that a separate polling place must
be established for every race for state legislature in which
more than fifty registered voters are eligible to vote;

(6)  Allows an election authority to designate buildings owned
by political subdivisions or special districts as polling places
for elections;

(7)  Moves date for political entities to notify the public of a
special election from the thirteenth Tuesday to the fifteenth
Tuesday prior to an election;

(8)  Deletes requirement that multiple voting districts be
stated on a notice of election even when the election does not
include those districts;

(9)  Designates the registration date for registrants by mail,
at a driver license office, or at a public agency;

(10) Clarifies procedures for notifying other election
authorities that a voter has registered in a new county and for
removing duplicate registrations from the voter registration
file;

(11) Moves the date when an election authority must send voter
identification cards from before May 31 to not less than 90 days
prior to the primary election in each year in which a primary
and general election will be held, unless the voter has received
such a card during the last 6 months;

(12) Allows an election authority to designate certain voters as
inactive for the specific purposes of determining the number of
ballots to be printed, determining proportional costs of
elections, or mailing information to registered voters;

(13) Adds definitions for new resident, interstate former
resident, and intrastate new resident and states the offices for
which they may vote;

(14) Adds postal regulation to the duties of the Secretary of
State relating to setting standards for ballot envelopes and
mailing envelopes;

(15) Specifies that any political party which fails to have a
statewide candidate for 2 consecutive elections or fails to poll
for a candidate for any statewide office more than 2% of the
entire vote cast will no longer be considered an established
political party;

(16) Specifies that any political party which fails to have a
candidate in a district or county for 2 consecutive elections or
fails to poll more than 2% of the entire vote cast at either of
the last 2 elections where the district or political subdivision
voted for the election of officers or representatives to serve
its area will no longer be considered an established political
party in that district or county;

(17) Moves the date when the Secretary of State must send a
certified list of candidates who filed declarations of candidacy
with the Secretary of State to election authorities from the
eighth Tuesday to the tenth Tuesday before each primary
election.  The certified list must also state the order in which
the candidates for each office are to be listed on the official
ballot;

(18) Requires an election authority to include in public notices
of a primary election the names and addresses of political party
committeemen and committeewomen who will be certified without an
election;

(19) Prohibits any person who files as a party candidate or
independent candidate at the primary election to file as a
write-in candidate for the same office at the general election
without first withdrawing from the primary election;

(20) Requires each write-in candidate for President of the
United States to include the name of a candidate for Vice
President of the United States and the names of nominees for
presidential electors.  At least one nominee for presidential
elector must reside in each congressional district and each
nominee must file a declaration of candidacy for the office of
presidential elector;

(21) Changes the date when an election authority must send
election returns to the Secretary of State from the third
Thursday to the Thursday after the second Tuesday after each
election;

(22) Changes the date for the Secretary of State to convene the
Board of State Canvassers to announce election returns from not
later than the fourth Tuesday to not later than the second
Tuesday in December following the general election;

(23) Allows an election authority to petition the circuit court
for a new election if evidence demonstrates irregularities
sufficient to cast doubt on the outcome of the election;

(24) Specifies that a 1% recount conducted under the supervision
of the Secretary of State will be limited to one additional
counting of all votes counted on election day;

(25) Changes the date for senatorial district committee meetings
from the third Saturday in August after each primary election to
on the Saturday after the third Tuesday in August after each
primary.  The senatorial district committee will also meet on
the Saturday after the third Tuesday in November after each
general election;

(26) Changes assisting a person to vote knowing such person is
not legally entitled to such assistance, or coercing,
requesting, or suggesting that a voter entitled to assistance
vote a particular way from a misdemeanor class 3 election
offense to a felony class 1 election offense;

(27) Requires that statewide ballot measures be published once a
week for 2 consecutive weeks in 2 newspapers in the county
before the election.  If there is only one newspaper in the
county, publication is required for 4 consecutive weeks before
the election;

(28)  Allows any county, city, town, or village to hold an
election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August
of this year.  The section with this provision contains an
emergency clause;

(29)  Changes the definition of "disqualified" to mean found to
be ineligible for office or voted on for office by an election
authority, a court of competent jurisdiction, the Missouri
Ethics Commission, or any other body authorized by law to
determine the eligibility of candidates;

(30)  Moves the date for a political subdivision or special
district calling an election to notify the public of the opening
filing date, the offices to be filled, the proper place for
filing, and the closing filing date from the thirteenth Tuesday
to the fifteenth Tuesday before the election;

(31)  Requires a candidate who withdraws from the election to
file a copy of the court order in the office of the official who
accepted the candidate's declaration of candidacy;

(32)  Moves the date to reopen filing for an office in a primary
election if the incumbent or the only candidate dies, withdraws,
or is disqualified from the eleventh Tuesday to the eighth
Tuesday before the primary election;

(33)  Allows an established political party to select a
candidate for nomination if the incumbent or the only candidate
dies, withdraws, or is disqualified after 5:00 p.m. on the
eighth Tuesday before the primary election and before 5:00 p.m.
on the day fixed by law as the final date for withdrawing as a
candidate for the office;

(34)  Allows a political party nominating committee to select a
candidate for the general election if the party's nominee dies
before the fourth Tuesday before the general election or if the
party's nominee is disqualified before the sixth Tuesday before
the general election;

(35)  Extends the filing period for 3 additional days when a
candidate for office withdraws from the race within 2 working
days of the close of filing for that office;

(36)  Requires approval by the election authority before an
election notice can be submitted by facsimile transmission.
Also, the original copy of the notice and a certified copy of
the legal notice to be published must be received by the
election authority within 3 business days of the facsimile
transmission;

(37)  Requires that petition pages sent by the Secretary of
State to election authorities to verify signatures be sent
within one week after the petition is submitted to verify each
signature and within 3 weeks to verify signatures by random
sampling;

(38)  Requires the Secretary of State to determine the
sufficiency of a petition by the eleventh Friday before the
election;

(39)  Changes the date when the Secretary of State must send
election authorities a copy of the legal notice announcing an
election which includes a statewide ballot measure from by the
eighth Tuesday to by the tenth Tuesday before the election;

(40)  Changes the absentee voting process for persons with
permanent disabilities.  Currently, a voter with a permanent
disability can apply and be placed on a list to receive an
absentee ballot for each election. Under this substitute, that
voter would receive an absentee ballot application for each
election.  The voter must return this absentee ballot
application to the election authority by 5:00 p.m. on the
Wednesday before the election in order to receive an absentee
ballot;

(41)  Allows a political subdivision or special district to make
late notification of an election to an election authority up to
4 weeks before an election;

(42)  Clarifies that a 1% recount applies to the total votes
cast for an office or question and not to being defeated by less
than 1% of the vote in any one election authority's jurisdiction
if the election involves multiple election authorities.  Also, a
contestant need only file one petition with the circuit court
for each election contest whatever the number of counties within
the court's jurisdiction;

(43)  Requires the state to pay for reprinting statewide
election ballots when circumstances beyond the control of local
election authorities require reprinting;

(44)  Eliminates the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
March as a possible date for public elections.  However, a
charter city or county may continue to have a primary election
in March if the charter provided for a March primary before the
effective date of this section.  The section with this provision
contains an emergency clause; and

(45)  Gives local election authorities the option to conduct a
lottery for ballot position for candidates filing with the local
election authority on the first day of filing for an office.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Effect to General Revenue of $0 for
FY 1998, $0 or Unknown* for FY 1999, and $0 for FY 2000.  *Cost
would be less than $100,000.

HCS HB 696 -- ELECTIONS

SPONSOR:  Days

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Elections
by a vote of 15 to 0.

This substitute makes several changes to election laws.

The substitute:

(1)  Moves the date for filing petitions proposing the formation
of a board of election commissioners in a first class county
from before 5:00 p.m. on the tenth Friday to the thirteenth
Tuesday preceding a general election;

(2)  Authorizes all election authorities to employ attorneys,
not just boards of election commissioners;

(3)  Clarifies that election judges must be registered voters in
the election authority's jurisdiction, which is a county or an
urban election board's area;

(4)  Includes any election day in the requirement that if
candidates from more than one political subdivision or district
are to be voted for at one precinct, then the election authority
must code the ballots to show what candidates and issues the
voter is eligible to vote for based on the voter's place of
residence;

(5)  Removes the requirement that a separate polling place must
be established for every race for state legislature in which
more than fifty registered voters are eligible to vote;

(6)  Allows an election authority to designate buildings owned
by political subdivisions or special districts as polling places
for elections;

(7)  Moves date for political entities to notify the public of a
special election from the thirteenth Tuesday to the fifteenth
Tuesday prior to an election;

(8)  Deletes requirement that multiple voting districts be
stated on a notice of election even when the election does not
include those districts;

(9)  Designates the registration date for registrants by mail,
at a driver license office, or at a public agency;

(10) Clarifies procedures for notifying other election
authorities that a voter has registered in a new county and for
removing duplicate registrations from the voter registration
file;

(11) Moves the date when an election authority must send voter
identification cards from before May 31 to not less than 90 days
prior to the primary election in each year in which a primary
and general election will be held, unless the voter has received
such a card during the last 6 months;

(12) Allows an election authority to designate certain voters as
inactive for the specific purposes of determining the number of
ballots to be printed, determining proportional costs of
elections, or mailing information to registered voters;

(13) Adds definitions for new resident, interstate former
resident, and intrastate new resident and states the offices for
which they may vote;

(14) Adds postal regulation to the duties of the Secretary of
State relating to setting standards for ballot envelopes and
mailing envelopes;

(15) Specifies that any political party which fails to have a
statewide candidate for 2 consecutive elections or fails to poll
for a candidate for any statewide office more than 2% of the
entire vote cast will no longer be considered an established
political party;

(16) Specifies that any political party which fails to have a
candidate in a district or county for 2 consecutive elections or
fails to poll more than 2% of the entire vote cast at either of
the last 2 elections where the district or political subdivision
voted for the election of officers or representatives to serve
its area will no longer be considered an established political
party in that district or county;

(17) Moves the date when the Secretary of State must send a
certified list of candidates who filed declarations of candidacy
with the Secretary of State to election authorities from the
eighth Tuesday to the tenth Tuesday before each primary
election.  The certified list must also state the order in which
the candidates for each office are to be listed on the official
ballot;

(18) Requires an election authority to include in public notices
of a primary election the names and addresses of political party
committeemen and committeewomen who will be certified without an
election;

(19) Prohibits any person who files as a party candidate or
independent candidate at the primary election to file as a
write-in candidate for the same office at the general election
without first withdrawing from the primary election;

(20) Requires each write-in candidate for President of the
United States to include the name of a candidate for Vice
President of the United States and the names of nominees for
presidential electors.  At least one nominee for presidential
elector must reside in each congressional district and each
nominee must file a declaration of candidacy for the office of
presidential elector;

(21) Changes the date when an election authority must send
election returns to the Secretary of State from the third
Thursday to the second Thursday after each election;

(22) Changes the date for the Secretary of State to convene the
Board of State Canvassers to announce election returns from not
later than the fourth Tuesday to not later than the second
Tuesday in December following the general election;

(23) Allows an election authority to petition the circuit court
for a new election if evidence demonstrates irregularities
sufficient to cast doubt on the outcome of the election;

(24) Specifies that a 1% recount conducted under the supervision
of the Secretary of State will be limited to one additional
counting of all votes counted on election day;

(25) Changes the date for senatorial district committee meetings
from the third Saturday in August after each primary election to
on the Saturday after the third Tuesday in August after each
primary.  The senatorial district committee will also meet on
the Saturday after the third Tuesday in November after each
general election;

(26) Changes assisting a person to vote knowing such person is
not legally entitled to such assistance, or coercing,
requesting, or suggesting that a voter entitled to assistance
vote a particular way from a misdemeanor class 3 election
offense to a felony class 1 election offense;

(27) Requires that statewide ballot measures be published once a
week for 2 consecutive weeks in 2 newspapers in the county
before the election.  If there is only one newspaper in the
county, publication is required for 4 consecutive weeks before
the election; and

(28) Allows all political subdivisions to hold an election on
the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August in nonprimary
years.  The section with this provision contains an emergency
clause.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters of the original bill say that this bill
is cleanup legislation provided by the Secretary of State's
Office to make Missouri election laws consistent throughout
RSMo, with the Missouri constitution, and with federal laws.

Testifying for the original bill were Representative Days;
Secretary of State's Office; and the Missouri Association of
County Clerks.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Martin Romitti, Research Analyst

HB 696 -- Elections

Sponsor:  Days

This bill makes several changes to election laws.  The bill:

(1)  Moves the date for filing petitions proposing the formation
of a board of election commissioners in a first class county
from before 5:00 p.m. on the 10th Friday to the 13th Tuesday
preceding a general election;

(2)  Includes any election day in the requirement that if
candidates from more than one political subdivision or district
are to be voted for at one precinct, then the election authority
must code the ballots to show what candidates and issues the
voter is eligible to vote for based on the voter's place of
residence;

(3)  Allows election authorities to designate buildings owned by
political subdivisions or special districts as polling places
for elections;

(4)  Moves the date when election authorities must send voter
identification cards from before May 31st to not less than 90
days prior to the primary election in each year in which a
primary and general election will be held, unless the voter has
received such a card during the last 6 months;

(5)  Adds that any political party which fails to have a
statewide candidate for 2 consecutive elections or fails to poll
for a candidate for any statewide office more than 2% of the
entire vote cast will no longer be considered an established
political party;

(6)  Adds that any political party which fails to have a
candidate in a district or county for 2 consecutive elections or
fails to poll more than 2% of the entire vote cast at either of
the last 2 elections where the district or political subdivision
voted for the election of officers or representatives to serve
its areas will no longer be considered an established political
party in that district or county;

(7)  Moves the date when the Secretary of State must send a
certified list of candidates who filed declarations of candidacy
with the Secretary of State to election authorities from the 8th
Tuesday to the 10th Tuesday before each primary election.  The
certified list must also state the order in which the candidates
for each office are to be listed on the official ballot;

(8)  Requires election authorities to include in public notices
of primary elections the names and addresses of all candidates
for political party committees who will be elected;

(9)  Prohibits any person who files as a party candidate or
independent candidate at the primary election to file as a
write-in candidate for the same office at the general election
without first withdrawing from the primary election;

(10) Requires each write-in candidate for President of the
United States to include the name of a candidate for Vice
President of the United States and the names of nominees for
presidential electors.  At least one nominee for presidential
elector must reside in each congressional district and each
nominee must file a declaration of candidacy for the office of
presidential elector;

(11) Moves the date when election authorities must send required
election returns to the Secretary of State from the 3rd Thursday
to the 2nd Thursday after each election;

(12) Moves the date for the Secretary of State to convene the
Board of State Canvassers to announce election returns from not
later than the 4th Tuesday to not later than the 2nd Tuesday in
December following the general election;

(13) Authorizes a circuit court to order a new election if the
evidence provided casts doubt on the outcome of an election;

(14) Specifies that a recount conducted under the supervision of
the Secretary of State will be limited to one additional
counting of all votes cast and counted on election day;

(15)  Changes the date for senatorial district committee
meetings from the 3rd Saturday in August after each primary
election to the 3rd Saturday after the 3rd Tuesday in August
after each primary.  The senatorial district committee will also
meet on the 3rd Saturday after the 3rd Tuesday in November after
each general election;

(16)  Changes assisting a person to vote knowing such person is
not legally entitled to such assistance, or coercing,
requesting, or suggesting that a voter entitled to assistance
vote a particular way from a misdemeanor class 3 election
offense to a felony class 1 election offense; and

(17)  Moves the date for public water supply district elections
from the 1st Tuesday after the first Monday in June or in April
at the same time as regular school elections to the 1st Tuesday
in April.