West Virginia HB 5129: To ban the unsolicited distribution of absentee applications by third parties and election officials.

Bill Text

WEST virginia legislature

2024 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 5129

By Delegates Kump, Kimble, C. Pritt, Phillips, Horst, Ridenour, Hite, Chiarelli, DeVault, Householder, and Mallow

[Introduced January 25, 2024; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend and reenact §3-3-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, related to banning the unsolicited distribution of absentee applications by third parties and election officials.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 3. Voting by ABsentees

§3-3-5. Voting an absentee ballot by mail or electronically; penalties. 

(a) Upon oral or written request, the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall provide to any voter of the county, in person, by mail, or electronically, the appropriate application for voting absentee as provided in this article. The voter shall complete and sign the application in his or her own handwriting or, if the voter is unable to complete the application because of illiteracy or physical disability or if the voter is a qualified first responder as defined in §3-3-1(c)(3) of this code:

(1) The person assisting the voter and witnessing the mark of the voter shall sign his or her name in the space provided; or

(2) The person, if eligible to vote by electronic absentee ballot due to physical disability or is a qualified first responder as defined in §3-3-1(c)(3) of this code, may complete and verify the application by available electronic means prescribed by the Secretary of State.

(3) There shall be a ban on the provision of absentee voting applications from third parties and election officials not specifically identified in this article.

(b) Completed applications for voting an absentee ballot by mail are to be accepted when received by the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting in person, by mail, or electronically within the following times:

(1) For persons eligible to vote an absentee ballot under the provisions of §3-3-1(b)(3) of this code, relating to absent uniformed services and overseas voters, not earlier than January 1 of an election year or 84 days preceding the election, whichever is earlier, and not later than the sixth day preceding the election, which application is to, upon the voter’s request, be accepted as an application for the ballots for all elections in the calendar year; and

(2) For all other persons eligible to vote an absentee ballot by mail or electronically, except qualified first responders, not earlier than January 1 of an election year or 84 days preceding the election, whichever is earlier, and not later than the sixth day preceding the election; and

(3) For qualified first responders as defined in §3-3-1(c)(3) of this code, not earlier than the 13th day preceding the election, and not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election.

(c) Upon acceptance of a completed application, the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting shall determine whether the following requirements have been met:

(1) The application has been completed as required by law;

(2) The applicant is duly registered to vote in the precinct of his or her residence and, in a primary election, is qualified to vote the ballot of the political party requested;

(3) The applicant is authorized for the reasons given in the application to vote an absentee ballot by mail or electronically;

(4) The address to which a ballot is to be mailed is an address outside the county if the voter is applying to vote by mail under §3-3-1(b)(2)(A), §3-3-1(b)(2)(B), §3-3-1(b)(3), or §3-3-1(b)(4) of this code;

(5) The applicant is not making his or her first vote after having registered by postcard registration or, if the applicant is making his or her first vote after having registered by postcard registration, the applicant is subject to one of the exceptions provided in §3-2-10 of this code; and

(6) No regular and repeated pattern of applications for an absentee ballot by mail for the reason of being out of the county during the entire period of voting in person exists to suggest that the applicant is no longer a resident of the county.

(d)(1) If the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting determines that the required conditions have been met for voting an absentee ballot by mail, two representatives that are registered to vote with different political party affiliations shall sign their names in the places indicated on the back of the official ballot. If the official designated to supervise and conduct absentee voting determines the required conditions have not been met or has evidence that any of the information contained in the application is not true, the official shall give notice to the voter that the voter's absentee ballot will be challenged as provided in this article and shall enter that challenge.

(2) If the official designated to supervise and conduct electronic voting determines that a voter i