SB319 By Senator Chambliss RFD Governmental Affairs Rd 1 12-MAR-20

SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, the mayor, except in a Class 1 municipality or a city or town organized under a commission form of government, is required to give notice of all general municipal elections on the first Tuesday in July prior to the election and is required to have ballots printed that display the name of each qualified candidate on the third Tuesday in July prior to the election.

This bill would change the date to the second Tuesday in June preceding a general election for when a mayor, except in a Class 1 municipality or a city or town organized under a commission form of government, must give notice of the election.

This bill would change the deadline for printing municipal ballots to the fourth Tuesday in June prior to the election.

Also under existing law, in a general municipal election, an election official has seven days from the election notice, or 14 days after the general election in the case of a runoff municipal election, to print and distribute to the absentee election manager, or other designee, the official ballots and election supplies.

This bill would also change the deadline for printing and distribution of official ballots and election supplies to 28 days prior to the general municipal election, or 10 days after the election in the case of a runoff municipal election.

This bill would require the city clerk in every municipality to notify the Secretary of State in writing of any special or regularly scheduled municipal election.

This bill would also make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the existing code language to current style.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

Relating to municipal elections, to amend Sections 11-46-22, 11-46-25, and 17-11-12, Code of Alabama 1975, to require the mayor, except in a Class 1 municipality or city or town organized under a commission form of government, to give earlier notice of all general municipal elections; to require the mayor to have ballots printed earlier; to require the appropriate election official to print and distribute the official ballots and election supplies 28 days before a general municipal election, or 10 days after the election in the case of a runoff election; to require city clerks to notify the Secretary of State of municipal elections in writing; and to make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the existing code language to current style.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:Section 1. Sections 11-46-22, 11-46-25, and 17-11-12, Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§11-46-22.

"(a)(1) It shall be the duty of the The mayor to shall give notice of all municipal elections by publishing notice thereof in a newspaper published in the city or town, and, if no newspaper is published in the city or town, then by posting notices thereof in three public places in the city or town. When the notice is of a regular election, the notice shall be published on the first second Tuesday in July June preceding the election or the first business day thereafter. When the notice is of a special election to be held on the second Tuesday in a month, the notice shall be published on or before the second Tuesday of the second month preceding the month in which the election will be held, except where otherwise provided by law. When the notice is of a special election to be held on the fourth Tuesday of a month, the notice shall be published on or before the fourth Tuesday of the second month preceding the month in which the election will be held, except where otherwise provided by law.

"(2) Whenever and wherever two or more municipal offices of the same name (constituting a group) are to be filled at the regular election, prior to the first day of April preceding the election, the municipal governing body, shall by ordinance, shall designate each of the offices by number. When the offices have been designated by number, the notice of the election shall clearly indicate that the offices have been numbered and each candidate for the offices, in the announcement of his or her candidacy, shall designate the number of the office for which he or she is a candidate. Candidates may begin to qualify after the notice of election is given by the mayor.

"(b) The notice of an election for municipal officers shall be substantially in the following form:

"Notice of Election of Municipal Officers

""Notice is hereby given that on (day of week), (date - month, day, and year) an election for the purpose of electing a mayor (or other chief executive) and the board of aldermen (town, city council, or other municipal governing body, or, if the positions on the governing board have been designated by number, the position numbers to be filled at the election) and the other officers as pursuant to duly enacted law or ordinance, or any or all of the officers, are to be elected at the election for the city (or town) of _____, Alabama, will be held, and that all registered and qualified electors of the state, who reside within the corporate limits of _____, Alabama, and have resided therein for 30 days or more immediately preceding the date of the election, and who are qualified to vote in the county precinct which embraces and covers that part of the corporate limits of the city (or town) in which the elector resides, will be authorized to participate in the election.

""The polls will be opened at (here list the places of voting which have been designated pursuant to Section 11-46-24). If necessary, a run-off election will be held on (day of the week), (date - month, day, year)."

"Any qualified elector who will have resided within the municipality, or if the municipality is districted, within the district from which he or she seeks election, for a period of at least 90 days on election day may qualify to run for office by filing the appropriate forms and paying any appropriate fees, as otherwise provided by law.

"(c) Notwithstanding Section 11-46-20, the city clerk in each municipality, including Class 1 municipalities, shall notify the Secretary of State in writing of any special or regularly scheduled election.

§11-46-25.

"(a) In all municipal elections on any subject which may be submitted by law to a vote of the people of the municipality and for any municipal officers, if paper ballots are used, the voting shall be by official ballot printed and distributed as provided in subsections (c) and (d), and no ballot shall be received or counted in any election unless it is provided as prescribed by law.

"(b) There shall be but only one form of ballot for all the candidates for municipal office and every ballot provided for use at any polling place in a municipal election shall contain the names of all candidates who have properly qualified and have not withdrawn, as provided in subsection (g), together with the title of the office for which they are candidates.

"(c) All ballots shall be printed in black ink on clear book paper. At the bottom of each ballot and at a point an equal distance from the sides, thereof there shall be printed a one-inch square in which the number of the ballot shall be placed by the inspector when the ballot is cast. The arrangement of the ballot shall in general conform substantially to the plan given in subsection (f).

"(d) Ballots shall be fastened together in convenient numbers in books or blocks in such manner that each ballot may be detached and removed separately, and each ballot shall have attached to it a stub of sufficient size to enable one of the inspectors to write or stamp his or her name or initials thereon and so attached to the ballot that when the same is folded the stub can be detached therefrom without injury to the ballot or exposing the contents thereof.

"(e) Absentee ballots shall be in the form prescribed for absentee ballots by Title 17.

"(f) The ballot shall be arranged in substantially the following form:

"For Mayor "Vote for One "( ) John Doe "( ) Richard Roe "For City Council Place Number One "( ) _____________________ "( ) _____________________ "For City Council Place Number Two "( )_____________________ "( ) _____________________ "Etc.

"(g) The mayor shall cause to be printed on the ballots the name of any qualified elector who, by 5:00 P.M. p.m. on the third fourth Tuesday in July June preceding the date set for the election, has filed a statement of candidacy, accompanied by an affidavit taken and certified by an officer authorized to take acknowledgments in this state that such person is duly qualified to hold the office for which the person desires to become a candidate. Such statement shall be substantially in the following form:

""State of Alabama, _____ County. I, the undersigned, being first duly sworn, depose and say that I am a citizen of the city (or town) of _____, in said county, and reside at _____, in said city (or town); that I have been or will have been on the date of the municipal election a resident of said city (or town) for a period of not less than 90 days; that I desire to become a candidate for the office of _____ in said city (or town) for the term of _____ years at the election for such office to be held on the _____ day of _____ , 2__; that I am presently a qualified elector of the city (or town) of_____; and I hereby request that my name be printed upon the official ballot at said election.

""(Signed) ________________ ""Subscribed and sworn to before me by said _____ on this ___ day of ___, 2__ ""(Style of Officer) ________"

"(h) No names shall be printed upon the ballot as candidates for election except the names of such persons as become candidates in the manner prescribed in subsection (g) nor may any person individual be a candidate or be permitted to file a declaration for more than one place or position in a group of offices of the same name when such the offices have been designated by number as authorized in Section 11-46-22.

"(i) All statements of candidacy filed with the mayor within the time prescribed in subsection (g) shall be preserved for six months after the election for which such the statements of candidacy were filed.

"(j) Any candidate may withdraw as a candidate by giving written notice to the mayor, at any time, prior to the date of the election. If a candidate withdraws, as herein provided, the election officials shall, if paper ballots are used in the election, shall draw a line in ink through the name of such the candidate;, and the election officials shall, if voting machines are used in the election, shall paste or otherwise secure a strip of white paper over the name of such the candidate. If electronic voting tabulators are used in the election, the name of the candidate shall be removed from the ballot in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines or instructions.

"(k) All written notices of withdrawal filed with the mayor shall be preserved for six months after the election.

§17-11-12.

"Not less than 55 days prior to the holding of any election, except a municipal election, to which this chapter pertains, or in the case of a runoff primary election, not more than 14 days after the first primary election, the officer charged with the printing and distribution of the official ballots and election supplies shall deliver to the absentee election manager of each county in which the election is held or to the person individual designated to serve in his or her place a sufficient number of absentee ballots, envelopes, and other necessary supplies. Not more less than seven 28 days after the last day to qualify as a candidate prior to the general election in a municipal election, or in the case of a runoff municipal election, not more than 14 10 days after the first election, or in the case of a municipal election held for a purpose other than the election of municipal officers, not more than seven days after the giving of notice of the election, the officer charged with the printing and distribution of the official ballots and election supplies shall deliver to the absentee election manager of the municipality in which the election is held, or to the person individual designated to serve in his or her place, a sufficient number of absentee ballots, envelopes, and other necessary supplies. If the absentee election manager is a candidate with opposition in the election, he or she shall immediately, upon receipt of the ballots, envelopes, and supplies, deliver them to the person individual authorized to act in his or her place, as provided in Section 17-11-13."

Section 2. This act shall become effective on January 1, 2021 following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.

Elections

Municipalities

Ballots

Code Amended