3362S.02C
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SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 1120
AN ACT
To repeal sections 115.105, 115.123, 115.351,
115.776, and 115.904, RSMo, and to enact in lieu
thereof thirteen new sections relating to the
presidential preference primary election, with an
effective date.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 115.105, 115.123, 115.351, 115.776,
and 115.904, RSMo, are repealed and thirteen new sections
enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 115.105,
115.123, 115.351, 115.755, 115.758, 115.761, 115.765, 115.767,
115.770, 115.773, 115.776, 115.785, and 115.904, to read as
follows:
115.105. 1. The chair of the county committee of each
political party named on the ballot shall have the right to
designate a challenger for each polling place, who may be
present until all ballots are cast on the day of election,
and a challenger for each location at which absentee ballots
are counted, who may be present while the ballots are being
prepared for counting and counted. No later than four
business days before the election, t he chair of each county
committee of each political party named on the ballot shall
provide signed official designation forms with the names of
the designated challengers and substitutes to the local
election authority for confirmation of eligibility t o serve
as a challenger. The local election authority, after
verifying the eligibility of each designated and substitute
challenger, shall sign off on the official designation
forms, unless the challenger is found not to have the
qualifications estab lished by subsection 4 of this section.
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If the election authority determines that a challenger does
not meet the qualifications of subsection 4 of this section,
the designating party chair may designate a replacement
challenger and provide the local e lection authority with the
name of the replacement challenger before 5:00 p.m. of the
Monday preceding the election. The designating chair may
substitute challengers at his or her discretion during such
hours.
2. Challenges may only be made when the challenger
believes the election laws of this state have been or will
be violated, and each challenger shall report any such
belief to the election judges, or to the election authority
if not satisfied with the decision of the election judges.
3. Prior to the close of the polls, challengers may
list and give out the names of those who have voted. The
listing and giving out of names of those who have voted by a
challenger shall not be considered giving information
tending to show the stat e of the count.
4. In a presidential primary election, challengers may
collect information about the party ballot selected by the
voter and may disclose party affiliation information after
the polls close.
5. All persons selected as challeng ers shall have the
same qualifications required by section 115.085 for election
judges, except that such challenger shall be a registered
voter in the jurisdiction of the election authority for
which the challenger is designated as a challenger.
[5.] 6. Any challenge by a challenger to a voter's
identification for validity shall be made only to the
election judges or other election authority. If the poll
challenger is not satisfied with the decision of the
election judges, then he or she may report his or her belief
that the election laws of this state have been or will be
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violated to the election authority as allowed under this
section.
115.123. 1. All public elections shall be held on
Tuesday. Except as provided in sub section 2 of this
section, and section 247.180, all public elections shall be
held on the general election day, the primary election day,
the general municipal election day, the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in November, or on another day expres sly
provided by city or county charter, and in nonprimary years
on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August. Bond
elections may be held on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in February but no other issue shall be included on
the ballot for such election.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of
this section to the contrary, an election for a presidential
primary held under sections 115.755 to 115.785 shall be held
on the first Tuesday in March of each presidential election
year.
3. The following elections shall be exempt from the
provisions of subsection 1 of this section:
(1) Bond elections necessitated by fire, vandalism or
natural disaster;
(2) Elections for which ownership of real property is
required by law for voting;
(3) Special elections to fill vacancies and to decide
tie votes or election contests; and
(4) Tax elections necessitated by a financial hardship
due to a five percent or greater decline in per -pupil state
revenue to a school district from the previous year.
[3.] 4. Nothing in this section prohibits a charter
city or county from having its primary election in March if
the charter provided for a March primary before August 28,
1999.
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[4.] 5. Nothing in this section shall prohibit
elections held pursuant to section 65.600, but no other
issues shall be on the March ballot except pursuant to this
chapter.
115.351. No person who files as a party candidate for
nomination or election t o an office shall, without
withdrawing, file as another party's candidate or an
independent candidate for nomination or election to the
office for the same term. No person who files as an
independent candidate for election to an office shall,
without withdrawing, file as a party candidate for
nomination or election to the office for the same term. No
person shall file for one office and, without withdrawing,
file for another office to be filled at the same election.
A person who files a request to be included on the
presidential primary ballot is not prohibited by this
section from filing or appearing on any ballot as a party
candidate for nomination to another office. Receipt by the
secretary of state of proper certification of nomination
pursuant to subsection 1 of section 115.399 constitutes
withdrawal by operation of law pursuant to subsection 1 of
section 115.359 of any presidential or vice presidential
nominee from any other office for which such nominee is a
candidate at the same election. Any person violating any
provision of this section shall be disqualified from running
for nomination or election to any office at the primary and
general election next succeeding the violation.
115.755. A statewide presidential preference primary
shall be held on the first Tuesday in March of each
presidential election year.
115.758. On or before the tenth Tuesday prior to the
date of the presidential preference primary, the secretary
of state shall announ ce the official list of presidential
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candidates for each established political party as provided
in section 115.761.
115.761. 1. The official list of presidential
candidates for each established political party shall
include the names of all constitutionally qualified
candidates for whom, on or after 8:00 a.m. on the fifteenth
Tuesday prior to the presidential primary, and on or before
5:00 p.m., on the eleventh Tuesday prior to the presidential
primary, a written request to be inc luded on the
presidential primary ballot is filed with the secretary of
state along with:
(1) Receipt of payment to the state committee of the
established political party on whose ballot the candidate
wishes to appear of a filing fee of fifty tho usand dollars,
provided that such filing fee shall be increased or
decreased by the secretary of state on or before the first
Tuesday prior to the presidential preference primary by a
percentage amount equal to the percentage increase or
decrease in the cost of living as of the preceding December
over the level as of December of the immediately preceding
presidential election year of the Consumer Price Index for
Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI -W) or successor
index as published by the U.S. Department of Labor or its
successor agency, with the amount of the fee increase or
decrease rounded to the nearest dollar. Any filing fee
increase or decrease shall be announced on the official
website of the secretary of state and published in the
Missouri register; or
(2) A written statement, sworn to before an officer
authorized by law to administer oaths, that the candidate is
unable to pay the filing fee and does not have funds in a
campaign fund or committee to pay the filing fee and a
petition signed by not less than five thousand registered
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Missouri voters, as determined by the secretary of state,
that the candidate's name be placed on the ballot of the
specified established political party for the presidential
preference primary. The request to be included on the
presidential primary ballot shall include each signer's
printed name, registered address, and signature and shall be
in substantially the following form:
2. The state or national party organization of an
established political party that adopts rules imposing
signature requirements to be met before a candidate can be
listed as an official candidate shall notify the secretary
of state by October first of the year preceding the
presidential primary.
3. Any candidate or such candidate's authorized
representative may have such candidate's name stricken from
the presidential primary ballot by filing with the secretary
of state on or before 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh Tu esday
prior to the presidential primary election a written
statement, sworn to before an officer authorized by law to
administer oaths, requesting that such candidate's name not
be printed on the official primary ballot. Thereafter, the
secretary of state shall not include the name of that
candidate in the official list announced pursuant to section
115.758 or in the certified list of candidates transmitted
pursuant to section 115.765.
4. The filing times set out in this section shall only
apply to presidential preference primaries, and are in lieu
of those established in section 115.349.
I (We) the undersigned, do hereby request that the
name of ______ be placed upon the March ______,
______, presidential primary ballot as candidate
for nomination as the nominee for President of the
United States on the ______ party ticket.
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115.765. On or before the tenth Tuesday prior to a
presidential preference primary, the secretary of state
shall transmit to each electi on authority a certified list
containing the names of all candidates whose names shall
appear on the presidential preference primary ballot of each
party. The names of the candidates shall appear in the
order in which their request to be included on t he
presidential primary ballot was received in the office of
the secretary of state, except that, in the case of
candidates who file a request to be included on the
presidential primary ballot with the secretary of state
prior to 5:00 p.m. on the firs t day for filing, the
secretary of state shall determine by random drawing the
order in which such candidates' names shall appear on the
ballot. The drawing shall be conducted so that each
candidate, or candidate's representative, may draw a number
at random at the time of filing. The secretary of state
shall record the number drawn with the candidate's request
to be included on the presidential primary ballot. The
names of candidates filing on the first day for filing on
each party ballot shall be listed in ascending order of the
numbers so drawn.
115.767. Each election authority shall cause the name
of candidates certified by the secretary of state to appear
on the presidential preference primary ballot of each party,
followed by a listing for an uncommitted vote.
115.770. The conduct of the presidential preference
primary election and the count and canvass of the votes cast
therein shall conform as nearly as is practicable to that
prescribed for the cond uct of the primary election for state
officers. All primary election laws not inconsistent with
the provisions of sections 115.750 to 115.785 shall be
applicable to the conduct of this election, and the form of
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the ballot insofar as is practicable sha ll be substantially
as that prescribed by section 115.395. In a presidential
preference primary, each voter shall be entitled to receive
the ballot of one and only one established political party,
designated by the voter before receiving such voter's
ballot. Each voter who participates in a presidential
preference primary shall be entitled to vote on all
questions and for any candidates submitted by political
subdivisions and special districts at the general municipal
election. Each voter who does not wish to participate in a
presidential preference primary may vote on all questions
and for any candidates submitted by a political subdivision
or special district.
115.773. After the count and canvass of the votes
cast, the secretary of state shall notify the state chair of
each of the established political parties for whom a
candidate was listed, of the number of votes recorded in
that established political party's primary that each
candidate and uncommitted listing received .
115.776. The state party organization which is the
state organization recognized by the national organization
of that established political party shall, after the primary
and before the national convention, conduct a series of
caucuses culminating in congressional and state conventions
[for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the president
of the United States ]. Delegates to the national
conventions shall be chosen at the congressional district
and state conventions pursuan t to rules established by the
political parties.
115.785. All costs of a presidential preference
primary shall be paid by the state, except that, pursuant to
section 115.065, costs shall be shared proportionately by
the state and any political subdivisions and special
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districts holding an election on the same day as any such
primary. For any county with more than five hundred polling
places, the state shall assist in assuring adequate poll
workers and equipment.
115.904. The voting procedures in sections 115.900 to
115.936 shall apply to:
(1) A general, special, presidential preference, or
primary election for federal office;
(2) A general, special, or primary election for
statewide or state legislati ve office or state ballot
measure; or
(3) Any election in which absentee voting is conducted
pursuant to sections 115.275 to 115.304.
Section B. Section A of this act shall become
effective January 1, 2025.