Chapter 303
2011 -- H 5653 SUBSTITUTE A AS
AMENDED
Enacted 07/12/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
ELECTIONS - PRIMARIES FOR ELECTION OF DELEGATES TO NATIONAL CONVENTIONS AND FOR
PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE
Introduced By: Representative Donald J. Lally
Date Introduced: March 03, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 17-12.1-1, 17-12.1-3, 17-12.1-4,
17-12.1-6, 17-12.1-7, 17-12.1-8,
17-12.1-11 and 17-12.1-15
of the General Laws in Chapter 17-12.1 entitled "Primaries for
Election of Delegates to
National Conventions and for Presidential Preference" are
hereby
amended to read as follows:
17-12.1-1.
Date of primaries for election of delegates to national conventions.
-- A
primary election for the election of delegates to the
national convention for each political party
shall be held in the manner provided in this chapter on the
first fourth Tuesday in March 1996
April 2012, and every fourth year thereafter.
17-12.1-3.
Declaration of candidacy -- Delegates. -- During the fifty-fifth
(55th)
through and including the fifty-seventh (57th) sixty-first (61st) and sixty-second (62nd) day
preceding a primary for election of delegates to a national
convention, each voter desiring to be a
delegate at the forthcoming convention shall, on the form that
shall be provided by the secretary
of state, sign his or her name as it appears on the
voting list and file, not later than four (4:00)
p.m. of the date of filing with the secretary of state, a
declaration of candidacy which shall
include the following information:
(1) His or her name and
address as they appear on the voting list, party designation,
place and date of birth, and length of residence in the
state and in the town or city where he or she
resides.
(2) A statement that,
if elected, he or she would comply with all party rules of the
national committee of the party designated in subdivision (1)
of this section relating to delegates
to national conventions and conducting of national
conventions.
(3) At the same time
as the declaration of candidacy is filed, the appropriate pledge of
support form provided to the secretary of state by the
political parties must be filed by the
candidate for delegate.
(3)(4) If
any candidate for delegate does not thereafter wish his or her name to appear
on
the ballot, the candidate shall, at least thirty-three
(33) forty-nine (49) days prior to the date for
the primary, file an affidavit with the secretary of
state stating his or her name may not be placed
on the ballot and the secretary of state shall not place
that candidate's name on the ballot.
17-12.1-4.
Presidential candidates. -- (a) Any
person seeking the endorsement of a
national political party for which a primary is being held
shall, during the eighty-eighth (88th)
through and including the ninetieth (90th) day ninety-fourth (94th) through and including the
ninety-sixth (96th) day preceding the presidential preference primary being held, provide
written
notification to the secretary of state of his or her intention to
run in the presidential preference
primary. When the deadline falls on a Saturday, said
written notification may be filed with the
secretary of state on that Saturday until noon (12:00) p.m. The notification shall include the
candidate's name and address and a statement affirming their
eligibility, under the laws and
Constitution of the
States. The notification shall also include the name and
contact information of the designee
authorized by the presidential candidate to act in his/her stead
in
(b) (1) Upon receipt of the notification referred to in subsection
(a) of this section, the
secretary of state shall, by four o'clock (4:00) p.m. on the
next business day by six o'clock (6:00)
p.m. on the same day, prepare petition papers for candidates who are eligible to serve in
the office
of President of the
and the office the candidate seeks; provided, however,
that for notifications filed on a Saturday
deadline by noon (12:00) p.m., petition papers shall be
prepared by two o'clock (2:00) p.m. on
that Saturday.
(2) The petition papers
of a candidate for president shall be signed, in the aggregate, by
at least one thousand (1,000) eligible voters and shall
be submitted on or before four o'clock
(4:00) p.m. in the afternoon of the sixty-ninth
(69th) eighty-second (82nd) day before the
presidential preference primary to the local board of the city or
town where the signers appear to
be voters, and the petition papers shall be checked,
processed, and certified to the secretary of
state by the local boards before four o'clock (4:00) p.m.
in the afternoon of the fifty-fourth (54th)
sixty-ninth (69th)
day before the presidential preference primary. When nomination papers have
been duly certified by the appropriate local boards of
canvassers, they shall be conclusively
presumed to be valid, unless written objections to them are
made as to the eligibility of the
candidate or the sufficiency of the nomination papers or the
signatures on them. All objections
shall be filed with the state board of elections by four o'clock
(4:00) p.m. on the next business day
after the last day fixed for local boards to file
nomination papers with the secretary of state.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent
the secretary of state from disqualifying a
candidate based on the determination of the secretary of state
that the nomination papers or the
signatures on them are invalid or insufficient.
(c) The decision of the
state board shall be rendered not later than four o'clock (4:00)
p.m. on the forty-sixth (46th) sixty-third
(63rd) day before the presidential preference primary and
shall immediately be certified by the state board to the
secretary of state.
(d) If any candidate
for presidential nomination does not qualify for ballot placement, the
names of delegates committed to this disqualified
presidential candidate, who are otherwise
qualified, shall appear on the ballot in accordance with party
rules.
(d)(e) If
any candidate whose name has been announced as a presidential nominee does
not thereafter wish his or her name to appear on the
ballot, the candidate shall, at least forty-three
(43) sixty-three
(63) days prior to the date for the primary, file an affidavit with the
secretary of
state stating his or her name may not be placed on the ballot
and the secretary of state shall not
place that candidate's name on the ballot. Said
affidavit must be signed by the presidential
candidate or his or her designee on file with the office of the
secretary of state. Names of
delegates committed to the withdrawn candidate, who are
otherwise qualified, shall appear on the
ballot as uncommitted in accordance with party
rules.
17-12.1-6. Number
of signers required. -- The nomination papers of a candidate for
delegate to a national convention shall be signed, in the
aggregate, by at least one hundred fifty
(150) party eligible voters.
17-12.1-7.
Checking and certification of nomination papers. --
(a) Each nomination
paper of a candidate for delegate shall be submitted on or
before four o'clock (4:00) p.m. in the
afternoon of the forty-sixth (46th) fifty-sixth
(56th) day before the presidential preference primary
to the local board of the city or town where the signers
appear to be voters, and the nomination
papers shall be checked, processed, and certified to the
secretary of state by the local boards
before four o'clock (4:00) p.m. in the afternoon of the fortieth
(40th) fifty-third (53rd) day before
the presidential preference primary. In addition, each
candidate for delegate to a national
convention may, on or before four o'clock (4:00) p.m. in the
afternoon of the thirty-third (33rd)
forty-ninth (49th)
day before the presidential primary, submit to the secretary of state
documentation from a candidate, as set forth in section 17-12.1-4,
that he or she has the approval
of the candidate for presidential nominee or approval
from the steering/screening committee to
name the candidates' delegates to be identified with him
or her. Names of delegates pledged to a
presidential candidate who do not receive approval of the
candidate for presidential nominee or
approval from the steering/screening committee to name the
candidates' delegates to be identified
with him/her, who are otherwise qualified, shall appear on
the ballot in accordance with party
rules.
(b) When nomination
papers have been duly certified by the appropriate local boards of
canvassers, they shall be conclusively presumed to be valid,
unless written objections to them are
made as to the eligibility of the candidate or the
sufficiency of the nomination papers or the
signatures on them. All objections shall be filed with the state
board of elections by four o'clock
(4:00) p.m. on the next business day after the last
day fixed for local boards to file nomination
papers with the secretary of state. Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prevent the
secretary of state from disqualifying a candidate based on the
determination of the secretary of
state that the nomination papers or the signatures on them
are invalid or insufficient.
(c) The decision of the
state board shall be rendered not later than four o'clock (4:00)
p.m. on the thirty-third (33rd) forty-seventh
(47th) day before the presidential preference primary
and shall immediately be certified by the state board to
the secretary of state.
17-12.1-8.
Presidential preference primary. -- (a) On the same date and at the same
time as the election of delegates to national conventions,
as provided in section 17-12.1-1, there
shall be held a presidential preference primary for each
political party at which each party voter
shall have the opportunity to vote his or her preference
for his or her choice for one person to be
the candidate of his or her party for president of the
(b) The secretary of
state shall place on the ballot the name of all persons qualified as
candidates for presidential nominee as provided in section
17-12.1-4, and who have not filed with
the secretary of state the affidavit as provided in
section 17-12.1-4, and shall list under the name
of each candidate for presidential nominee, arranged by
lot, the names of all candidates for
delegates to a national convention who submitted the approval
of the candidate for presidential
nominee as set forth in section 17-12.1-7. All other
candidates for delegates to a national
convention shall be listed on the ballot, arranged by lot, as
uncommitted, unless otherwise
specified in party rules.
17-12.1-11.
Form of ballot. -- (a) The
order on the ballot, subject to final determination
of any objections filed with the board of elections and
the removal of said individual(s) by the
secretary of state post-lot, of the presidential nominees and delegates and the uncommitted
delegates shall be chosen by lot under the direction of the
secretary of state.
(b) Individuals
committed to a particular presidential candidate or uncommitted shall
appear in a manner so that the candidates for delegates
shall be readily identified with the
presidential candidate to whom they are committed or shall appear
in a manner that clearly shows
they are uncommitted.
(c) No person shall
appear on the ballot as a candidate for delegate more than once.
(d) There shall be
nothing on the ballot to indicate or suggest any political party
endorsement.
(e) The secretary of
state shall prepare and arrange the ballot for use in the primaries
authorized in this title, which shall include, as to the
candidates for delegates, the person to whom
the candidates are committed and any other information
and instruction that the secretary of state
shall deem necessary.
17-12.1-15.
Political party rules. -- The state chairperson of
each political party shall, on
or before the first Tuesday in of January
of each year a primary is to be held pursuant to this
chapter, file with the secretary of state a certified copy of
the complete rules of the political party
including, but not limited to, the delegate selection rules and
delegate procedure for the national
convention of the political party.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01474/SUB A
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