WEST VIRGINIA CODE











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WVC 3 - 5 - 10

§3-5-10. Publication of sample ballots and lists of candidates.

(a) The ballot commissioners of each county shall prepare a

sample official primary ballot for each party and, as the case may

be, for the nonpartisan candidates to be voted for at the primary

election, according to the provisions of this article and articles

four and four-a of this chapter, as appropriate to the voting

system. If any ballot issue is to be voted on in the primary

election, the ballot commissioners shall likewise prepare a sample

official ballot for that issue according to the provisions of law

authorizing the election.

(b) The facsimile sample ballot for each political party and

for nonpartisan candidates or ballot issues shall be published as

follows:

(1) For counties in which two or more qualified newspapers

publish a daily newspaper, not more than twenty-six nor less than

twenty days preceding the primary election, the ballot

commissioners shall publish each sample official primary election

ballot as a Class I-0 legal advertisement in the two qualified

daily newspapers of different political parties within the county

having the largest circulation in compliance with the provisions of

article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code;

(2) For counties having no more than one daily newspaper, or

having only one or more qualified newspapers which publish weekly,

not more than twenty-six nor less than twenty days preceding the

primary election, the ballot commissioners shall publish the sample official primary election ballot as a Class I legal advertisement

in the qualified newspaper within the county having the largest

circulation in compliance with the provisions of article three,

chapter fifty-nine of this code; and

(3) Each facsimile sample ballot shall be a photographic

reproduction of the official sample ballot or ballot pages and

shall be printed in a size no less than sixty-five percent of the

actual size of the ballot, at the discretion of the ballot

commissioners: Provided, That when the ballots for the precincts

within the county contain different senatorial, delegate,

magisterial or executive committee districts or when the ballots

for precincts within a city contain different municipal wards, the

facsimile shall be altered to include each of the various districts

in the appropriate order. If, in order to accommodate the size of

each ballot, the ballot or ballot pages must be divided onto more

than one page, the arrangement and order shall be made to conform

as nearly as possible to the arrangement of the ballot. The

publisher of the newspaper shall submit a proof of the ballot and

the arrangement to the ballot commissioners for approval prior to

publication.

(c) The ballot commissioners of each county shall prepare, in

the form and manner prescribed by the Secretary of State, an

official list of offices and candidates for each office which will

appear on the primary election ballot for each party and, as the

case may be, for the nonpartisan candidates to be voted for at the primary election. All information which appears on the ballot,

including instructions as to the number of candidates for whom

votes may be cast for the office, any additional language which

will appear on the ballot below the name of the office, any

identifying information relating to the candidates, such as his or

her residence and magisterial district or presidential preference,

shall be included in the list in the same order in which it appears

on the ballot. Following the names of all candidates, the list

shall include the full title, text and voting positions of any

issue to appear on the ballot.

(d) The official list of candidates and issues as provided in

subsection (c) of this section shall be published as follows:

(1) For counties in which two or more qualified newspapers

publish a daily newspaper, on the last day on which a newspaper is

published immediately preceding the primary election, the ballot

commissioners shall publish the official list of candidates and

issues as a Class I-0 legal advertisement in the two qualified

daily newspapers of different political parties within the county

having the largest circulation in compliance with the provisions of

article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code;

(2) For counties having no more than one daily newspaper, or

having only one or more qualified newspapers which publish weekly,

on the last day on which a newspaper is published immediately

preceding the primary election, the ballot commissioners shall

publish the sample official list of nominees and issues as a Class I legal advertisement in the qualified newspaper within the county

having the largest circulation in compliance with the provisions of

article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code;

(3) The publication of the official list of candidates for

each party and for nonpartisan candidates shall be in single or

double columns, as required to accommodate the type size

requirements as follows: (A) The words "official list of

candidates", the name of the county, the words "primary election",

the date of the election, the name of the political party or the

designation of nonpartisan candidates shall be printed in all

capital letters and in bold type no smaller than fourteen point.

The designation of the national, state, district or other tickets

shall be printed in all capital letters in type no smaller than

fourteen point; (B) the title of the office shall be printed in

bold type no smaller than twelve point and any voting instructions

or other language printed below the title shall be printed in bold

type no smaller than ten point; and (C) the names of the candidates

shall be printed in all capital letters in bold type no smaller

than ten point and the residence information shall be printed in

type no smaller than ten point; and

(4) When any ballot issue is to appear on the ballot, the

title of that ballot shall be printed in all capital letters in

bold type no smaller than fourteen point. The text of the ballot

issue shall appear in no smaller than eight point type. The ballot

commissioners may require the publication of the ballot issue under this subsection in the facsimile sample ballot format in lieu of

the alternate format.

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (c) and (d)

of this section, beginning with the primary election to be held in

the year two thousand, the ballot commissioners of any county may

choose to publish a facsimile sample ballot for each political

party and for nonpartisan candidates or ballot issues instead of

the official list of offices and candidates for each office for

purposes of the last publication required before any primary

election.





Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2015 Regular Session

The WV Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.