SECONDREGULARSESSION
[PERFECTED]
HOUSEBILLNO.1859
101STGENERALASSEMBLY
INTRODUCEDBYREPRESENTATIVEEGGLESTON.
4017H.01P DANARADEMANMILLER,ChiefClerk
ANACT
Torepealsections115.225,115.237,and116.220,RSMo,andtoenactinlieuthereoffive
newsectionsrelatingtoballots.
BeitenactedbytheGeneralAssemblyofthestateofMissouri,asfollows:
SectionA.Sections115.225,115.237,and116.220,RSMo,arerepealedandfivenew
2sectionsenactedinlieuthereof,tobeknownassections115.225,115.237,116.225,1,and2,
3toreadasfollows:
115.225.1.Beforeusebyelectionauthoritiesinthisstate,thesecretaryofstateshall
2approvethemarkingdevicesandtheautomatictabulatingequipmentusedinelectronic
3votingsystemsandmaypromulgaterulesandregulationstoimplementtheintentofsections
4115.225to115.235.
5 2.Noelectronicvotingsystemshallbeapprovedunlessit:
6 (1)Permitsvotinginabsolutesecrecy;
7 (2)Permitseachvotertovoteforasmanycandidatesforeachofficeasavoteris
8lawfullyentitledtovotefor;
9 (3)Permitseachvotertovotefororagainstasmanyquestionsasavoterislawfully
10entitledtovoteon,andnomore;
11 (4)Providesfacilitiesforeachvotertocastasmanywrite-invotesforeachofficeasa
12voterislawfullyentitledtocast;
13 (5)Permitseachvoterinaprimaryelectiontovoteforthecandidatesofonlyone
14partyannouncedbythevoterinadvance;
EXPLANATION—Matterenclosedinbold-facedbrackets[thus] intheabovebillisnotenactedandis
intendedtobeomittedfromthelaw.Matterinbold-facetypeintheabovebillisproposedlanguage. 15 (6)Permitseachvoteratapresidentialelectiontovotebyuseofasinglemarkforthe
16candidatesofonepartyorgroupofpetitionersforpresident,vicepresidentandtheir
17presidentialelectors;
18 (7)Accuratelycountsallpropervotescastforeachcandidateandforandagainsteach
19question;
20 (8)Issettorejectallvotes,exceptwrite-invotes,foranyofficeandonanyquestion
21whenthenumberofvotesexceedsthenumberavoterislawfullyentitledtocast;
22 (9)Producestheelectionresultsfrompaperballotsthatvotershavemarkedby
23handor,inthecaseofvoterswhoaredisabledandneedassistance,frompaperballots
24thathavebeenmarkedbypaperballotmarkingmachinesdesignedtoassistvoterswho
25aredisabled;
26 (10)Permitseachvoter,whilevoting,toclearlyseetheballotlabel;and
27 [(10)] (11)Hasbeentestedandiscertifiedbyanindependentauthoritythatmeetsthe
28votingsystemstandardsdevelopedbytheFederalElectionCommissionoritssuccessor
29agency.Theprovisionsofthissubdivisionshallnotberequiredforanysystempurchased
30priortoAugust28,2002.
31 3.UntilJanuary1,2024,ifanyelectionauthorityusesdirect-recordelectronic
32touchscreenvotecountingmachines,theelectionauthoritymaycontinuetousesuch
33machinessolelyforvoterswhoaredisabledanddesiretousethem.Whenmachines
34requirereplacementduetowearandtear,malfunction,oranyotherreason,such
35machineshallbereplacedwithapaperballotmarkingmachinedesignedtoassistvoters
36whoaredisabled.Undernocircumstancesshalldirect-recordelectronictouchscreen
37votecountingmachinesbeusedafterJanuary1,2024.
38 4.Thesecretaryofstateshallpromulgaterulesandregulationstoallowtheuseofa
39computerizedvotingsystem.Theproceduresshallprovidefortheuseofacomputerized
40votingsystemwiththeabilitytoprovideapaperaudittrail.Notwithstandinganyprovisions
41ofthischaptertothecontrary,suchasystemmayallowforthestorageofprocessedballot
42materialsinanelectronicform.
43 [4.]5.Anyruleorportionofarule,asthattermisdefinedinsection536.010,thatis
44createdundertheauthoritydelegatedinthissectionshallbecomeeffectiveonlyifitcomplies
45withandissubjecttoalloftheprovisionsofchapter536and,ifapplicable,section536.028.
46Thissectionandchapter536arenonseverableandifanyofthepowersvestedwiththe
47generalassemblypursuanttochapter536toreview,todelaytheeffectivedateorto
48disapproveandannularulearesubsequentlyheldunconstitutional,thenthegrantof
49rulemakingauthorityandanyruleproposedoradoptedafterAugust28,2002,shallbeinvalid
50andvoid.
HB1859 2 115.237.1.BeginningJanuary1,2023,theofficialballotshallbeapaperballot
2thatishand-markedbythevoterorbythevoter'sdesigneeaspermittedunder
3subsection3ofsection115.445,unlesssuchvoterchoosestouseaballotmarkingdevice
4asprovidedinsubsection3ofsection115.225.
5 2.Eachballotprintedordesignedforusewithanelectronicvotingsystemforany
6electionpursuanttothischaptershallcontainallquestionsandthenamesofallofficesand
7candidatescertifiedorfiledpursuanttothischapterandnoother.Asfaraspracticable,all
8questionsandthenamesofallofficesandcandidatesforwhicheachvoterisentitledtovote
9shallbeprintedononepageexceptfortheballotforpoliticalpartycommitteepersonsin
10pollingplacesnotutilizinganelectronicvotingsystemwhichmaybeprintedseparatelyand
11inconformitywiththerequirementscontainedinthissection.Asfaraspracticable,ballots
12containingonlyquestionsandthenamesofnonpartisanofficesandcandidatesshallbe
13printedinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthissection,exceptthattheballotinformation
14maybelistedinverticalorhorizontalrows.Thenamesofcandidatesforeachofficeshallbe
15listedintheorderinwhichtheyarefiled.
16 [2.]3.Inpollingplacesusingelectronicvotingsystems,theballotinformationmay
17bearrangedinverticalorhorizontalrowsoronanumberofseparatepagesorscreens.Inany
18event,thenameofeachcandidate,thecandidate'sparty,theofficeforwhichheorsheisa
19candidate,andeachquestionshallbeindicatedclearlyontheballot.
20 [3.]4.Nothinginthissubchaptershallbeconstruedasprohibitingtheuseofa
21separatepaperballotforquestionsorforthepresidentialpreferenceprimaryinanypolling
22placeusinganelectronicvotingsystem.
23 [4.]5.Whereelectronicvotingsystemsareusedandwhenwrite-invotesare
24authorizedbylaw,awrite-inballot,whichmaybeintheformofaseparatepaperballot,card,
25orenvelope,maybeprovidedbytheelectionauthoritytopermiteachvotertowriteinthe
26namesofpersonswhosenamesdonotappearontheballot.
27 [5.]6.Noballotprintedordesignedforusewithanelectronicvotingsystemforany
28partisanelectionheldunderthischaptershallallowapersontovoteastraightpoliticalparty
29ticket.Forpurposesofthissubsection,a"straightpoliticalpartyticket"meansvotingforall
30ofthecandidatesforelectiveofficewhoareontheballotrepresentingasinglepoliticalparty
31byasingleselectionontheballot.
32 [6.]7.Thesecretaryofstateshallpromulgaterulesthatspecifyuniformstandardsfor
33ballotlayoutforeachelectronicorcomputerizedballotcountingsystemapprovedunderthe
34provisionsofsection115.225sothattheballotusedwithanycountingsystemis,where
35possible,consistentwiththeintentofthissection.Nothinginthissectionshallbeconstrued
36torequiretheformatspecifiedinthissectionifitdoesnotmeettherequirementsoftheballot
37countingsystemusedbytheelectionauthority.
HB1859 3 38 [7.]8.Anyruleorportionofarule,asthattermisdefinedinsection536.010,thatis
39createdundertheauthoritydelegatedinthissectionshallbecomeeffectiveonlyifitcomplies
40withandissubjecttoalloftheprovisionsofchapter536and,ifapplicable,section536.028.
41Thissectionandchapter536arenonseverableandifanyofthepowersvestedwiththe
42generalassemblypursuanttochapter536toreview,todelaytheeffectivedateorto
43disapproveandannularulearesubsequentlyheldunconstitutional,thenthegrantof
44rulemakingauthorityandanyruleproposedoradoptedafterAugust28,2002,shallbeinvalid
45andvoid.
116.225.Politicalsubdivisionsorspecialdistrictsofthisstateshalllabelballot
2measuresofanytypethataresubmittedtoavoteofthepeoplealphabeticallyinthe
3orderinwhichtheyaresubmittedbypetition,ordinance,voteofapoliticalsubdivision
4orspecialdistrict,orothermethodauthorizedbylaw.Thesecretaryofstateshalllabel
5statutoryinitiativeandreferendummeasureswiththelettersAthroughI.Thecounty
6governingbody,unlessotherwisespecifiedbyacountycharter,shalllabelcountyballot
7measureswiththelettersJthroughR,andthegoverningbodyofeachcity,town,
8village,township,orspecialdistrictlocalballotmeasureswiththelettersSthroughZ.
9Eachofficialorgoverningbodydescribedinthissectionshalllabelthefirstballot
10measureineachcategorywiththefirstletterinthesequencedesignatedforthat
11category,andsoonconsecutivelythroughthelastletterdesignatedforthecategory,and
12thenbeginlabelingwiththefirstletterforthecategoryfollowedbyan"A"andsoon.A
13newseriesoflettersshallbestartedaftereachelection.Intheeventameasureislabeled
14priortobutnotvotedonatthenextsucceedingelection,theletterornumberassigned
15tosuchmeasureshallnotbereassigneduntilaftersuchmeasurehasbeenvotedonby
16thepeople.
Section1.Foranyelectioninwhichtheselectionofmultiplecandidatesin
2responsetoasingleballotquestionispermitted,theballotlanguageforsuchanelection
3shallspecifythatthevoter"mayvoteforupto[themaximumnumber]candidates".
4Themaximumnumberofcandidatesisbasedontheofficesavailable.Theballot
5languageshallnotindicatethatthevoter"shall"or"must"voteforadefinitenumber
6ofcandidates.
Section2.Notwithstandinganyotherprovisionoflawtothecontrary,drop
2boxes,whichforpurposesofthissectionshallmeanunattendeddepositoriesforelection
3ballots,butshallnotincludemailboxesundertheownershipandcontroloftheUnited
4StatesPostalService,shallbeprohibitedinthisstate.
[116.220.Thesecretaryofstateshalllabelstatutoryinitiativeand
2 referendummeasuresalphabeticallyintheorderinwhichtheyaresubmitted
3 bypetitionorintheorderinwhichtheyarepassedbythegeneralassembly.
HB1859 4 4 Thesecretaryofstateshalllabelthefirstas"PropositionA",andsoon
5 consecutivelythroughtheletterZ,andthenbeginlabelingas"Proposition
6 AA"andsoon.Anewseriesoflettersshallbestartedaftereachgeneral
7 election.Intheeventameasureislabeledpriorto,butnotvotedonat,the
8 nextsucceedinggeneralelection,theletterassignedtosuchmeasureshallnot
9 bereassigneduntilaftersuchmeasurehasbeenvotedonbythepeople.]
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HB1859 5