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S. B. No. 61 As IntroducedAs Introduced
128th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2009-2010 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Coughlin, Patton, Wagoner, Schuring, Schaffer, Gibbs, Buehrer, Faber
A BILL
To amend sections 3501.05 and 3521.02 of the Revised
Code to require that the Governor call a special
election to fill a vacancy in the representation
of Ohio in the United States Senate.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3501.05 and 3521.02 of the Revised
Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3501.05. The secretary of state shall
do all of the
following:
(A) Appoint all members of boards of elections;
(B)
Issue instructions by directives and advisories in
accordance with section 3501.053 of the Revised Code to
members
of
the boards as to the proper methods
of conducting
elections.;
(C) Prepare rules and instructions for the conduct of
elections;
(D) Publish and furnish to the boards from time to time a
sufficient number of indexed copies of all election laws then in
force;
(E) Edit and issue all pamphlets concerning proposed laws
or
amendments required by law to be submitted to the voters;
(F) Prescribe the form of registration cards,
blanks, and
records;
(G) Determine and prescribe the forms of ballots and the
forms of all blanks, cards of instructions, pollbooks, tally
sheets, certificates of election, and
forms and blanks
required by
law for use by candidates, committees, and boards;
(H) Prepare the ballot title or statement to be placed on
the
ballot for any proposed law or amendment to the constitution
to be
submitted to the voters of the state;
(I) Except as otherwise provided in section 3519.08 of the
Revised Code, certify to the several boards the forms of ballots
and
names of candidates for state offices, and the form and
wording
of
state referendum questions and issues, as they shall
appear on
the
ballot;
(J) Except as otherwise provided in division (I)(2)(b) of
section 3501.38 of the Revised Code, give final approval to ballot
language for any
local
question or
issue approved and transmitted
by boards of elections
under section 3501.11
of the Revised Code;
(K) Receive all initiative and referendum petitions on
state
questions and issues and determine and certify to the
sufficiency
of
those petitions;
(L) Require such reports from the several boards as are
provided by law, or as the secretary of state
considers
necessary;
(M) Compel the observance by election officers in the
several
counties of the requirements of the election laws;
(N)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (N)(2) of
this section,
investigate the administration of election laws,
frauds, and irregularities in elections in any county, and report
violations of election laws to the attorney general or
prosecuting
attorney, or both, for prosecution;
(2) On and after
August
24, 1995, report a failure to
comply
with or a violation of a
provision in sections 3517.08 to 3517.13,
3517.17, 3517.18,
3517.20 to 3517.22, 3599.03, or 3599.031 of the
Revised
Code,
whenever the secretary of state has or should have
knowledge of a
failure to comply with or a violation of a
provision in one of
those sections,
by filing a complaint with the
Ohio elections
commission under section
3517.153 of the Revised
Code;.
(O) Make an annual report to the governor containing the
results of elections,
the cost of elections in the various
counties,
a
tabulation of the votes in the several political
subdivisions,
and
other information and recommendations
relative
to
elections
the secretary
of state considers
desirable;
(P) Prescribe and distribute to boards of elections a list
of
instructions indicating all legal steps necessary to petition
successfully for local option elections under sections 4301.32 to
4301.41, 4303.29, 4305.14, and 4305.15 of the Revised Code;
(Q) Adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code
for the removal by boards of elections of ineligible voters
from
the statewide voter registration
database and, if
applicable,
from the poll list or signature pollbook used in each
precinct,
which rules shall provide for all of the following:
(1) A process for the removal of voters who have changed
residence,
which shall be uniform,
nondiscriminatory, and in
compliance with
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and
the National
Voter Registration
Act of 1993, including a program that uses the
national change of
address service provided by the United States
postal system
through its licensees;
(2) A process for the removal of ineligible voters under
section 3503.21 of the Revised Code;
(3) A uniform system for marking or removing the name of a
voter who is ineligible to vote from the statewide
voter
registration database and, if applicable, from the poll list or
signature
pollbook used in each precinct and noting the reason
for that mark
or removal.
(R) Prescribe a general program for registering voters or
updating voter
registration information, such as name and
residence changes, by boards of elections, designated
agencies,
offices of deputy
registrars of motor
vehicles, public high
schools and vocational
schools, public
libraries, and offices
of
county treasurers consistent with the
requirements of section
3503.09 of the Revised Code;
(S) Prescribe
a program of distribution of voter
registration
forms through
boards of elections, designated
agencies, offices of the
registrar
and
deputy registrars of
motor
vehicles, public high schools and
vocational schools, public
libraries, and offices of county
treasurers;
(T) To the extent feasible, provide copies, at no cost and
upon
request, of
the voter registration form in post offices in
this state;
(U) Adopt rules pursuant to section 111.15 of the Revised
Code for the
purpose of implementing the program for registering
voters through boards of elections, designated
agencies, and
the
offices of the registrar and
deputy registrars of motor
vehicles
consistent with this chapter;
(V) Establish the full-time position of Americans with
Disabilities Act coordinator within the office of the secretary of
state to do all of the following:
(1) Assist the secretary of state with ensuring that there is
equal access to polling places for persons with disabilities;
(2) Assist the secretary of state with ensuring that each
voter may cast the voter's ballot in a manner that provides the
same opportunity for access and participation, including privacy
and independence, as for other voters;
(3) Advise the secretary of state in the development of
standards for the certification of voting machines, marking
devices, and automatic tabulating equipment.
(W) Establish and maintain a computerized statewide
database
of all legally registered voters under section 3503.15
of the
Revised Code that complies with the requirements of the
"Help
America Vote Act of 2002," Pub. L. No. 107-252, 116 Stat.
1666,
and provide training in the operation of that system;
(X) Ensure that all directives, advisories, other
instructions, or decisions issued or made during or as a result of
any conference or teleconference call with a board of elections to
discuss the proper methods and procedures for conducting
elections, to answer questions regarding elections, or to discuss
the interpretation of directives, advisories, or other
instructions issued by the secretary of state are posted on a web
site of the office of the secretary of state as soon as is
practicable after the completion of the conference or
teleconference call, but not later than the close of business on
the same day as the conference or teleconference call takes
place.;
(Y) Publish a report on a web site of the office of the
secretary of state not later than one month after the completion
of the canvass of the election returns for each primary and
general election, identifying, by county, the number of absent
voter's ballots cast and the number of those ballots that were
counted, and the number of provisional ballots cast and the number
of those ballots that were counted, for that election. The
secretary of state shall maintain the information on the web site
in an archive format for each subsequent election.
(Z) Conduct voter education outlining voter
identification,
absent voters ballot, provisional ballot, and
other voting
requirements;
(AA) Establish a procedure by which a registered elector
may
make available to a board of elections a
more
recent signature
to be used in the poll list or signature
pollbook
produced by
the board of elections of the county in
which the
elector
resides;
(BB) Disseminate information, which may include all or
part
of the official explanations and arguments, by means of
direct
mail or other written publication, broadcast, or other
means or
combination of means, as directed by the Ohio ballot
board under
division (F) of section 3505.062 of the Revised Code,
in order to
inform the voters as fully as possible concerning
each proposed
constitutional amendment, proposed law, or
referendum;
(CC) Perform
other duties
required by law.
Whenever a primary election is held under section 3513.32 of
the Revised Code
or a special
election is held under section
3521.02 or
3521.03 of the Revised Code to fill a vacancy
in the
office of United States senator or
representative to congress, the
secretary of state shall establish
a deadline,
notwithstanding any
other deadline required under the
Revised
Code, by which any or
all of the following shall occur:
the filing
of a declaration of
candidacy and petitions or a
statement of candidacy and
nominating
petition together with the
applicable filing fee; the filing of
protests against the
candidacy of any person filing a declaration
of candidacy
or
nominating petition; the filing of a declaration
of intent to be a
write-in
candidate; the filing of campaign
finance reports; the
preparation of, and the
making of corrections
or challenges to,
precinct voter registration lists; the
receipt
of applications for
absent voter's ballots or armed service absent
voter's ballots;
the supplying of election materials to precincts
by boards of
elections; the holding of hearings by boards of
elections to
consider
challenges to the right of a person to
appear on a voter
registration list;
and the scheduling of
programs to instruct or
reinstruct election officers.
In the performance of the
secretary of state's
duties as the
chief election officer, the secretary of state may
administer
oaths, issue
subpoenas, summon witnesses, compel the
production of
books,
papers, records, and other evidence, and fix
the time and
place
for hearing any matters relating to the
administration and
enforcement of the election laws.
In any controversy involving or arising out of the adoption
of registration or the appropriation of funds
for
registration,
the
secretary of state may, through the attorney
general, bring an
action in the name of the state in the
court of
common pleas
of
the
county where the cause of action arose
or in an adjoining
county, to adjudicate the question.
In any action involving the laws in Title XXXV of the
Revised
Code wherein the interpretation of those laws is in issue
in such
a manner that the result of the action will affect the
lawful
duties of the secretary of state or of any board of
elections, the
secretary of state may, on the
secretary of
state's
motion, be
made a
party.
The secretary of state may apply to any court that is
hearing
a case in which the secretary of state is a party, for a
change of
venue as a
substantive right, and
the change of venue shall
be
allowed, and
the case removed to the
court of common pleas
of an
adjoining county
named in the application or,
if there
are cases
pending in
more than one jurisdiction that
involve the
same or
similar
issues,
the court of common pleas of
Franklin county.
Public high schools and vocational schools, public libraries,
and the
office of a county treasurer shall implement voter
registration programs as
directed by the secretary of state
pursuant to this section.
Sec. 3521.02. When a vacancy occurs in the representation
of
this state in the senate of the United States by death,
resignation, or otherwise, the governor, upon satisfactory
information thereof, shall issue a writ of election directing that
a special election be held to fill such vacancy in the territory
entitled to fill it on a day specified in the writ. The writ shall
be directed to the board of elections within such territory, which
shall give notice of the time and places of holding the special
election as provided in section 3501.03 of the Revised Code. The
election shall be held and conducted, and returns thereof made, as
in the case of a regular state election. The state shall pay all
costs of any special election held under this section.
The vacancy shall be temporarily filled forthwith
by
appointment by the governor, who may appoint some suitable
person
having the necessary qualifications for senator. The
appointee
shall hold office until the fifteenth day of December
succeeding
the next regular state election that occurs more
than one hundred
eighty days after the vacancy happens. At
that next regular state
election, a canvass of election returns of the special election
to
fill the vacancy shall be held, provided, that when the
unexpired
term ends within one year immediately following the date of such
regular state election, an election to fill the unexpired
term
shall not be held, and the appointment shall be for the unexpired
term. The special election shall be governed in all respects by
the laws controlling regular state elections for such office.
Candidates to be voted for at the special election shall be
nominated in the same manner as is provided for the nomination of
candidates at regular state elections.
At least one hundred eighty days prior to the date of such
regular state election, the governor shall issue a writ directing
that a special election be held to fill such vacancy as provided
in this section. The writ shall be directed to the
secretary of
state and a copy of the writ sent by mail to the board
of
elections
of each county in the state which shall give notice of
the time
and place of holding such special election in the same
manner and
at the same time provided in section 3501.03 of the
Revised Code
for giving similar notice for regular elections are
completed.
Section 2. That existing sections 3501.05 and 3521.02 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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