EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 202
102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BRATTIN.
1018S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 115.124 and 115.127, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections
relating to local elections, with a delayed effective date.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 115.124 and 115.127, RSMo, are 1
repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 2
known as sections 11 5.124, 115.127, and 115.710, to read as 3
follows:4
115.124. 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the 1
contrary, in a nonpartisan election in any [political 2
subdivision or] special district [including municipal 3
elections in any city, town, or village ] with two thousand 4
or fewer inhabitants that have adopted a proposal pursuant 5
to subsection 3 of this section [but excluding municipal 6
elections in any city, town, or village with more than two 7
thousand inhabitants, ] if the notice provided for in 8
subsection 5 of section 115.127 has been published in at 9
least one newspaper of general circulation as defined in 10
section 493.050 in the district, and if the number of 11
candidates for each office in [a particular political 12
subdivision,] the special district[, or municipality] is 13
equal to the number of positions for each office within the 14
[political subdivision, ] special district[, or municipality] 15
to be filled by the election and no ballot measure is placed 16
on the ballot such that a particular political subdivision 17 SB 202 2
will owe no proportional elections costs if an election is 18
not held, no election shall be held, and the candidates 19
shall assume the responsibilities of their offices at the 20
same time and in the same manner as if they had been 21
elected. If no election is held for a particular [political 22
subdivision,] special district[, or municipality] as 23
provided in this section, the election authority shall 24
publish a notice containing the names of the candidates that 25
shall assume the responsibilities of office under this 26
section. Such notice shall be published in at least one 27
newspaper of general circulation as defined in section 28
493.050 in such [political subdivision or ] district by the 29
first of the month in which the election would have 30
occurred, had it been contested. Notwithstanding any other 31
provision of law to the contrary, if at any election the 32
number of candidates filing for a particular office exceeds 33
the number of positions to be filled at such election, the 34
election authority shal l hold the election as scheduled, 35
even if a sufficient number of candidates withdraw from such 36
contest for that office so that the number of candidates 37
remaining after the filing deadline is equal to the number 38
of positions to be filled. 39
2. The election authority or political subdivision 40
responsible for the oversight of the filing of candidates in 41
any nonpartisan election in any [political subdivision or ] 42
special district shall clearly designate where candidates 43
shall form a line to effectuate such filings and determine 44
the order of such filings; except that, in the case of 45
candidates who file a declaration of candidacy with the 46
election authority or political subdivision prior to 5:00 47
p.m. on the first day for filing, the election authorit y or 48
political subdivision may determine by random drawing the 49 SB 202 3
order in which such candidates' names shall appear on the 50
ballot. If a drawing is conducted pursuant to this 51
subsection, it shall be conducted so that each candidate, or 52
candidate's representative if the candidate filed under 53
subsection 2 of section 115.355, may draw a number at random 54
at the time of filing. If such drawing is conducted, the 55
election authority or political subdivision shall record the 56
number drawn with the candidate's declaration of candidacy. 57
If such drawing is conducted, the names of candidates filing 58
on the first day of filing for each office on each ballot 59
shall be listed in ascending order of the numbers so drawn. 60
3. The governing body of any city, town, or village 61
with two thousand or fewer inhabitants may submit to the 62
voters at any available election, a question to adopt the 63
provisions of subsection 1 of this section for [municipal] 64
special district elections. If a majority of the votes cast 65
by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the 66
question, then the city, town, or village shall conduct 67
[nonpartisan municipal ] elections as provided in subsection 68
1 of this section for all nonpartisan elections remaining in 69
the year in which th e proposal was adopted and for the six 70
calendar years immediately following such approval. At the 71
end of such six-year period, each such [city, town, or 72
village] special district shall be prohibited from 73
conducting such elections in such a manner unle ss such a 74
question is again adopted by the majority of qualified 75
voters as provided in this subsection. 76
115.127. 1. Except as provided in subsection 4 of 1
this section, upon receipt of notice of a special election 2
to fill a vacancy submitted pursuant to subsection 2 of 3
section 115.125, the election authority shall cause legal 4
notice of the special election to be published in a 5 SB 202 4
newspaper of general circulation in its jurisdiction. The 6
notice shall include the name of the officer or agency 7
calling the election, the date and time of the election, the 8
name of the office to be filled and the date by which 9
candidates must be selected or filed for the office. Within 10
one week prior to each special election to fill a vacancy 11
held in its jurisdiction, the election authority shall cause 12
legal notice of the election to be published in two 13
newspapers of different political faith and general 14
circulation in the jurisdiction. The legal notice shall 15
include the date and time of the elec tion, the name of the 16
officer or agency calling the election and a sample ballot. 17
If there is only one newspaper of general circulation in the 18
jurisdiction, the notice shall be published in the newspaper 19
within one week prior to the election. If there are two or 20
more newspapers of general circulation in the jurisdiction, 21
but no two of opposite political faith, the notice shall be 22
published in any two of the newspapers within one week prior 23
to the election. 24
2. Except as provided in subsection s 1 and 4 of this 25
section and in sections 115.521, 115.549 and 115.593, the 26
election authority shall cause legal notice of each election 27
held in its jurisdiction to be published. The notice shall 28
be published in two newspapers of different political f aith 29
and qualified pursuant to chapter 493 which are published 30
within the bounds of the area holding the election. If 31
there is only one so -qualified newspaper, then notice shall 32
be published in only one newspaper. If there is no 33
newspaper published within the bounds of the election area, 34
then the notice shall be published in two qualified 35
newspapers of different political faith serving the area. 36
Notice shall be published twice, the first publication 37 SB 202 5
occurring in the second week prior to the elec tion, and the 38
second publication occurring within one week prior to the 39
election. Each such legal notice shall include the date and 40
time of the election, the name of the officer or agency 41
calling the election and a sample ballot; and, unless notice 42
has been given as provided by section 115.129, the second 43
publication of notice of the election shall include the 44
location of polling places. The election authority may 45
provide any additional notice of the election it deems 46
desirable. 47
3. The election authority shall print the official 48
ballot as the same appears on the sample ballot, and no 49
candidate's name or ballot issue which appears on the sample 50
ballot or official printed ballot shall be stricken or 51
removed from the ballot except on death of a candidate or by 52
court order, but in no event shall a candidate or issue be 53
stricken or removed from the ballot less than eight weeks 54
before the date of the election. 55
4. In lieu of causing legal notice to be published in 56
accordance with any o f the provisions of this chapter, the 57
election authority in jurisdictions which have less than 58
seven hundred fifty registered voters and in which no 59
newspaper qualified pursuant to chapter 493 is published, 60
may cause legal notice to be mailed during th e second week 61
prior to the election, by first class mail, to each 62
registered voter at the voter's voting address. All such 63
legal notices shall include the date and time of the 64
election, the location of the polling place, the name of the 65
officer or agency calling the election and a sample ballot. 66
5. If the opening date for filing a declaration of 67
candidacy for any office in a political subdivision or 68
special district is not required by law or charter, the 69 SB 202 6
opening filing date shall be 8:00 a.m. , the [seventeenth] 70
eighteenth Tuesday prior to the election. If the closing 71
date for filing a declaration of candidacy for any office in 72
a political subdivision or special district is not required 73
by law or charter, the closing filing date shall be 5 :00 74
p.m., the [fourteenth] thirteenth Tuesday prior to the 75
election. The political subdivision or special district 76
calling an election shall, before the [seventeenth] 77
eighteenth Tuesday, prior to any election at which offices 78
are to be filled, notif y the general public of the opening 79
filing date, the office or offices to be filled, the proper 80
place for filing and the closing filing date of the 81
election. Such notification may be accomplished by legal 82
notice published in at least one newspaper of general 83
circulation in the political subdivision or special district. 84
6. Except as provided for in sections 115.247 and 85
115.359, if there is no additional cost for the printing or 86
reprinting of ballots or if the candidate agrees to pay any 87
printing or reprinting costs, a candidate who has filed for 88
an office or who has been duly nominated for an office may, 89
at any time after the certification of the notice of 90
election required in subsection 1 of section 115.125 but no 91
later than 5:00 p.m. on t he eighth Tuesday before the 92
election, withdraw as a candidate pursuant to a court order, 93
which, except for good cause shown by the election authority 94
in opposition thereto, shall be freely given upon 95
application by the candidate to the circuit court o f the 96
area of such candidate's residence. 97
115.710. 1. Each declaration of candidacy for any 1
city, town, or village office, or any township office in a 2
township organization county shall state the candidate's 3
full name, residence ad dress, office for which such 4 SB 202 7
candidate proposes to be a candidate, the party ticket on 5
which he or she wishes to be a candidate, and that if 6
elected he or she will qualify. The declaration shall be in 7
substantially the following form: 8
2. If the declaration is to be filed in person, it 33
shall be subscribed and sworn to by the candidate before an 34
official authorized to accept his or her declaration of 35
candidacy. If the declaration is to be filed by certified 36
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
I, ______, a resident and registered voter of the
county of ______ and the state of Missouri,
residing at ______, do announce myself a candidate
for the office of ______ on the ______ party
ticket, to be voted for at the general municipal
election to be held on the ______ day of ______,
______, and I further declare that if elected to
such office I will qualify.
17 __________________ Subscribed and sworn
18 Signature of candidate to before me this
19 ______ day of
20 ______, ______
21 __________________ __________________
22 Residence address Signature of election
23
24
official or other
officer
25 authorized to
26 administer oaths
27 __________________
28
29
Mailing address (if
different)
30 __________________
31
32
Telephone Number
(Optional)
SB 202 8
mail or any other means, it shall be subscribed and sworn to 37
by the candidate before a notary public or oth er officer 38
authorized by law to administer oaths. 39
Section B. Section A of this act shall become 1
effective on January 1, 2024. 2