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Sub. H. B. No. 350 As Passed by the HouseAs Passed by the House
127th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2007-2008 |
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Cosponsors:
Representatives Batchelder, Huffman, Evans, Peterson, Fende, Flowers, Williams, S., Webster, Bubp, Combs, Brown, Adams, Bacon, Barrett, Beatty, Bolon, Book, Boyd, Brady, Celeste, Chandler, Daniels, DeBose, DeGeeter, Dolan, Domenick, Driehaus, Dyer, Foley, Garrison, Gerberry, Gibbs, Goodwin, Goyal, Hagan, J., Hagan, R., Harwood, Heard, Hite, Hughes, Jones, Letson, Luckie, Lundy, Mallory, McGregor, J., McGregor, R., Newcomb, Okey, Otterman, J., Patton, Reinhard, Sayre, Schindel, Schlichter, Schneider, Sears, Setzer, Stewart, D., Stewart, J., Strahorn, Sykes, Szollosi, Uecker, Ujvagi, Wachtmann, White, Williams, B., Yates, Yuko, Zehringer
A BILL
To amend sections 3501.22 and 3503.01 of the Revised
Code to
permit a student at an Ohio institution
of higher
education to serve as a precinct
election official
in the county where the student
attends school, to
permit up to two high school
seniors to serve as
precinct officers at a
polling place with six or
more precinct officers,
and to
permit a board of elections to assign
voters who reside in a
political subdivision or
other district that includes territory in
more
than one precinct to vote at a special election in
another
precinct that includes the subdivision's
or district's territory.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3501.22 and 3503.01 of the Revised
Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3501.22. (A) On or before the fifteenth day of
September
in each year, the board of elections by a majority vote
shall,
after careful examination and investigation as to their
qualifications, appoint for each election precinct four residents
of the county in which the precinct is
located, as judges. Except
as otherwise provided in division (C)(D) of this section, all
judges of election shall be qualified electors. The judges shall
constitute the election
officers of the precinct. Not more than
one-half of the
total number of judges
shall be members of the
same political party. The term of such
precinct officers shall be
for one year. The board may, at any
time, designate any number of
election officers, not more than one-half of
whom shall be members
of the same political
party, to perform their duties at
any
precinct in any election. The board may appoint additional
officials, equally divided between the two major political
parties, when necessary to expedite voting.
Vacancies for unexpired terms shall be filled by the board.
When new precincts have been created, the board shall appoint
judges for those precincts for the unexpired term. Any judge may
be summarily removed from office at any time by the board for
neglect of duty, malfeasance, or misconduct in office or for any
other good and sufficient reason.
Precinct election officials shall perform all of the duties
provided by law
for receiving the ballots and supplies, opening
and closing the polls, and
overseeing the casting of ballots
during the time the polls are open, and any
other duties required
by section 3501.26 of the Revised Code.
A board of elections may designate two precinct election
officials as
counting officials to count and tally the votes cast
and certify the results
of the election at each precinct, and
perform other duties as
provided by law. To expedite the counting
of votes at each precinct, the
board may appoint additional
officials,
not more than one-half of whom shall be members of the
same
political party.
The board shall designate one of the precinct election
officials who is a
member of the dominant political party to serve
as a presiding judge, whose duty it is to deliver the returns of
the election
and all supplies to the office of the board. For
these services, the presiding
judge shall receive additional
compensation in an amount, consistent with
section 3501.28 of the
Revised Code, determined by the board of elections.
The board shall issue to each precinct election official a
certificate of
appointment, which the official shall present to
the presiding judge at the
time the polls are opened.
(B) A person who is currently enrolled as a student at an
institution of higher education located within Ohio and who is
registered to vote in Ohio may serve as a precinct election
official in either of the following locations:
(1) A precinct in the county in which the person is
registered to vote.
(2) A precinct in the county in which the institution of
higher education the person currently attends is located, if the
person can provide proof to the board of elections that the person
is currently enrolled at the institution of higher education.
As used in this division, "institution of higher education"
means a state institution of higher education, a private college,
university, or other postsecondary institution located in this
state that possesses a certificate of authorization issued by the
Ohio board of regents pursuant to Chapter 1713. of the Revised
Code or a certificate of registration issued by the state board of
career colleges and schools under Chapter 3332. of the Revised
Code.
(C) If the board of elections determines that not enough
qualified electors in a precinct are available to serve as
precinct officers,
it may appoint persons to serve as precinct
officers at a primary, special, or
general election who are at
least seventeen years of age and are registered to
vote in
accordance with section 3503.07 of the Revised Code.
(C)(D)(1) A board of elections, in conjunction with the board
of education of a city, local, or exempted village school
district, the governing authority of a community school
established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, or the chief
administrator of a nonpublic school may establish a program
permitting certain high school students to apply and, if appointed
by the board of elections, to serve as precinct officers at a
primary, special, or general election.
In addition to the requirements established by division
(C)(D)(2) of this section, a board of education, governing
authority, or chief administrator that establishes a program under
this division in conjunction with a board of elections may
establish additional criteria that students shall meet to be
eligible to participate in that program.
(2)(a) To be eligible to participate in a program established
under division (C)(D)(1) of this section, a student shall be a
United States citizen, a resident of the county, at least
seventeen years of age, and enrolled in the senior year of high
school.
(b) Any student applying to participate in a program
established under division (C)(D)(1) of this section, as part of
the student's application process, shall declare the student's
political party affiliation with the board of elections.
(3) No student appointed as a precinct officer pursuant to a
program established under division (C)(D)(1) of this section shall
be designated as a presiding judge.
(4) Any student participating in a program established under
division (C)(D)(1) of this section shall be excused for that
student's absence from school on the day of an election at which
the student is serving as a precinct officer.
(D)(E) In any precinct with six or more precinct officers,
up to two students participating in a program
established under
division (D)(1) of this section who are under
eighteen years of
age may serve as precinct officers. Not more
than one precinct
officer in any given precinct with fewer than
six precinct
officers shall be under eighteen years of age.
Sec. 3503.01. (A) Every citizen of the United States who is
of
the age of eighteen years or over and who has been a resident
of
the state thirty days immediately preceding the election at
which the citizen offers to vote, is a resident of the county
and
precinct in which
the citizen offers to vote, and has been
registered to vote
for thirty
days, has the qualifications of an
elector and may vote at all
elections in the precinct in which the
citizen resides.
(B) When only a portion of a precinct is included within the
boundaries of a school an election district, the board of
elections may
assign the electors residing in such portion of a
precinct to the
nearest precinct or portion of a precinct within
the boundaries
of such school election district for the purpose of
voting at any special
school election held in such school
district. In any election in
which only a part of the electors in
a precinct is qualified to
vote, the board may assign voters in
such part to an adjoining
precinct. Such assignment may be made to
an adjoining precinct
in another county with the consent and
approval of the board of
elections of such other county if the
number of voters assigned to vote in a precinct in another county
is two hundred or less.
The board shall notify all such electors so assigned, at
least ten days prior to the holding of any such election, of the
location of the polling place where they are entitled to vote at
such election.
As used in division (B) of this section, "election district"
means a school district, municipal corporation, township, or other
political subdivision that includes territory in more than one
precinct or any other district or authority that includes
territory in more than one precinct and that is authorized by law
to place an issue on the ballot at a special election.
Section 2. That existing sections 3501.22 and 3503.01 of the
Revised Code
are hereby repealed.
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