As Passed by the Senate

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
Sub. H. B. No. 318


Representatives Blessing, O'Brien 

Cosponsors: Representatives Amstutz, Anielski, Baker, Beck, Blair, Boose, Bubp, Buchy, Combs, Conditt, Grossman, Hackett, Hayes, Henne, Hill, Hollington, Huffman, Maag, McClain, Newbold, Pelanda, Roegner, Ruhl, Sears, Slaby, Sprague, Stautberg, Stebelton, Terhar, Thompson, Uecker, Wachtmann, Young Speaker Batchelder 

Senator Coley 

A BILL
To amend section 3513.121 of the Revised Code to 1
revise the process for becoming a candidate for 2
nomination for the office of President of the 3
United States, to establish a separate primary 4
election on June 12, 2012, for nominating 5
candidates for the offices of President and 6
Vice-President of the United States, candidates 7
for the office of member of the United States 8
House of Representatives, candidates for at-large 9
delegate and alternate to the national convention 10
of a major political party, and candidates for 11
district delegate and alternate to the national 12
convention of a major political party, to 13
eliminate the August special election in 2012, to 14
permit political subdivisions and taxing 15
authorities to conduct a special election on the 16
day of the June 12, 2012, primary election, and to 17
make an appropriation.18


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1. That section 3513.121 of the Revised Code be 19
amended to read as follows:20

       Sec. 3513.121.  (A) Any candidate for the presidency of the 21
United States who is eligible to receive payments under the 22
"Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act," 88 Stat. 1297 23
(1974), 26 U.S.C.A. 9031, et seq., as amended, may file with the 24
secretary of state a declaration of candidacy not later than four 25
p.m. of the ninetieth day before the presidential primary election 26
held in the same year the candidate is eligible to receive such 27
payments. The candidate shall indicate on the candidate's 28
declaration of candidacy the congressional districts in this state 29
where the candidate's candidacy is to be submitted to the 30
electors.Any candidate for the presidency of the United States 31
who has raised at least five thousand dollars for the primary 32
election in each of twenty states from individuals, with a maximum 33
of two hundred fifty dollars per contributor counting toward the 34
threshold, may file with the secretary of state a declaration of 35
candidacy not later than four p.m. of the ninetieth day before the 36
presidential primary election. Such declaration of candidacy shall 37
be accompanied by a reasonable accounting proving eligibility and 38
a statement from the candidate's registered principal campaign 39
committee treasurer, meeting the standards of 28 U.S.C. sec. 1746, 40
certifying that the candidate has met the contribution 41
requirements of this division. Any candidate who files a 42
declaration of candidacy pursuant to this division shall also 43
file, or shall cause to be filed by a person authorized in writing 44
to represent the candidate, not later than four p.m. of the 45
ninetieth day before the same primary election, a list of 46
candidates for district delegate and alternate to the national 47
convention of the candidate's political party who have been 48
selected in accordance with rules adopted by the state central 49
committee of the candidate's political party. The candidates for 50
district delegate and alternate whose names appear on this list 51
shall be represented on the ballot in accordance with section 52
3513.151 of the Revised Code in every congressional district that 53
the presidential candidate named in the presidential candidate's 54
declaration of candidacy, provided that such candidates meet the 55
other requirements of this section.56

       (B) Candidates for delegate at large and alternate at large 57
to the national convention of a political party for a presidential 58
candidate who submits a declaration of candidacy in accordance 59
with division (A) of this section shall be selected in accordance 60
with rules adopted by the state central committee of the 61
presidential candidate's political party.62

       (C) Each candidate for district delegate and alternate to the 63
national convention of a political party selected pursuant to 64
division (A) of this section shall file or shall cause to be filed 65
with the secretary of state, not later than four p.m. of the 66
ninetieth day before the presidential primary election in which 67
the person is a candidate, both of the following:68

       (1) A declaration of candidacy in the form prescribed in 69
section 3513.07 of the Revised Code, but not the petition 70
prescribed in that section;71

       (2) A statement in writing signed by the candidate in which 72
the candidate states the candidate's first and second choices for 73
nomination as the candidate of the candidate's party for the 74
presidency of the United States.75

       (D) A declaration of candidacy filed pursuant to division (A) 76
of this section shall be in substantially the form prescribed in 77
section 3513.07 of the Revised Code except that the secretary of 78
state shall modify that form to include spaces for a presidential 79
candidate to indicate in which congressional districts the 80
candidate wishes the candidate's candidacy to be submitted to the 81
electors and shall modify it in any other ways necessary to adapt 82
it to use by presidential candidates. A candidate who files a 83
declaration of candidacy pursuant to division (A) of this section 84
shall not file the petition prescribed in section 3513.07 of the 85
Revised Code.86

       (E) Section 3513.151 of the Revised Code applies in regard to 87
candidates for delegate and alternate to the national convention 88
of a political party selected pursuant to this section. The state 89
central committee of the political party of any presidential 90
candidate who files a declaration of candidacy pursuant to 91
division (A) of this section shall file with the secretary of 92
state the rules of its political party in accordance with division 93
(E) of section 3513.151 of the Revised Code.94

       (F) The procedures for the selection of candidates for 95
delegate and alternate to the national convention of a political 96
party set forth in this section and in section 3513.12 of the 97
Revised Code are alternative procedures, and if the procedures of 98
this section are followed, the procedures of section 3513.12 of 99
the Revised Code need not be followed.100

       Section 2. That existing section 3513.121 of the Revised Code 101
is hereby repealed.102

       Section 3.  (A) Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised 103
Code to the contrary, in the year 2012 primary elections shall be 104
conducted as follows:105

       (1) On March 6, 2012, a primary election shall be conducted 106
for the purpose of nominating candidates for all offices that are 107
scheduled for election in 2012 pursuant to section 3501.02 of the 108
Revised Code, except candidates for the offices of President and 109
Vice-President of the United States, candidates for the office of 110
member of the United States House of Representatives, candidates 111
for at-large delegate and alternate to the national convention of 112
a major political party, and candidates for district delegate and 113
alternate to the national convention of a major political party. 114
To be eligible to appear on the ballot as a candidate for 115
nomination at that election, a person shall file the applicable 116
declaration of candidacy and petition or nominating petition not 117
later than four p.m. on the ninetieth day prior to the day of that 118
election, in the manner specified under Title XXXV of the Revised 119
Code. To be eligible to receive votes as a write-in candidate at 120
that election, a person shall file the declaration of intent to be 121
a write-in candidate not later than four p.m. on the 122
seventy-second day prior to the day of that election, in the 123
manner specified under Title XXXV of the Revised Code.124

       (2) On June 12, 2012, a primary election shall be conducted 125
for the purpose of nominating candidates for the offices of 126
President and Vice-President of the United States, candidates for 127
the office of member of the United States House of 128
Representatives, candidates for at-large delegate and alternate to 129
the national convention of a major political party, and candidates 130
for district delegate and alternate to the national convention of 131
a major political party. To be eligible to appear on the ballot as 132
a candidate for nomination at that election, a person shall 133
fulfill the applicable requirements to become a candidate not 134
later than four p.m. on the ninetieth day prior to the day of that 135
election, in the manner specified under Title XXXV of the Revised 136
Code. To be eligible to receive votes as a write-in candidate at 137
that election, a person shall file the declaration of intent to be 138
a write-in candidate not later than four p.m. on the 139
seventy-second day prior to the day of that election, in the 140
manner specified under Title XXXV of the Revised Code.141

       (B)(1) The primary election held on June 12, 2012, shall be 142
conducted in the manner provided under Title XXXV of the Revised 143
Code for other primary elections, except that only the names of 144
candidates for nomination for the offices of President and 145
Vice-President of the United States and candidates for the office 146
of member of the United States House of Representatives shall 147
appear on the ballot at that election, and the names of candidates 148
for at-large delegate and alternate to the national convention of 149
a major political party and candidates for district delegate and 150
alternate to the national convention of a major political party 151
may appear on the ballot at that election. 152

       (2) Any declaration of candidacy and petition or declaration 153
of intent to be a write-in candidate filed by an individual 154
seeking nomination for the office of President or Vice-President 155
of the United States, member of the United States House of 156
Representatives, at-large delegate and alternate to the national 157
convention of a major political party, or district delegate and 158
alternate to the national convention of a major political party 159
that is filed for the 2012 primary election before the effective 160
date of this act is null and void.161

       (C) Notwithstanding any provision of section 3501.01 or any 162
other provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, in 2012 no 163
special election shall be held on the first Tuesday after the 164
first Monday in August. A political subdivision or taxing 165
authority may hold a special election on the day of the June 12, 166
2012, primary election. A political subdivision or taxing 167
authority that wishes to hold a special election on the day of the 168
June 12, 2012, primary election shall, not later than ninety days 169
before the day of that election, follow the procedures established 170
under the applicable provisions of the Revised Code for placing 171
the question or issue on the ballot at a special election. Upon 172
proper notification of such a special election, the applicable 173
board of elections shall hold a special election in the 174
appropriate precincts on the day of the June 12, 2012, primary 175
election.176

       Section 4. Upon completion of the June 12, 2012, primary 177
election, the Secretary of State shall certify to the Director of 178
Budget and Management the cost to each county of conducting the 179
election. An amount equal to the total of these costs is hereby 180
appropriated to GRF appropriation item 911404, Mandate Assistance, 181
for fiscal year 2013. The Director of Budget and Management shall 182
use this appropriation to reimburse each county for the certified 183
costs of this election.184

       Section 5. Because this act will not take effect before the 185
December 7, 2011, candidate filing deadline established in Title 186
XXXV of the Revised Code for the 2012 primary election, it is the 187
intent of the General Assembly to allow any individual filing to 188
be a candidate for nomination for the office of member of the 189
United States House of Representatives to file on or before four 190
p.m. on December 7, 2011, based on the sixteen-district 191
congressional district map enacted.192

        It is also the intent of the General Assembly to allow any 193
individual filing to become a candidate for nomination for the 194
office of President or Vice-President of the United States, any 195
individual or group of individuals filing as a candidate or 196
candidates, respectively, for at-large delegate and alternate to 197
the national convention of a major political party, and any 198
individual or group of individuals filing as a candidate or 199
candidates, respectively, for district delegate and alternate to 200
the national convention of a major political party to file on or 201
before four p.m. on December 7, 2011, based on the 202
sixteen-district congressional map enacted.203

        Finally, it is the intent of the General Assembly to allow 204
any individual filing to be a write-in candidate for nomination 205
for the office of President or Vice-President of the United States 206
or the office of member of the United States House of 207
Representatives to file, on or before four p.m. on December 24, 208
2011, based on the sixteen-district congressional map enacted.209