| 1 | 1 | | 25.442.14 100th Legislative Session 103 |
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| 4 | 4 | | 2025 South Dakota Legislature |
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| 5 | 5 | | Senate Bill 103 |
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| 12 | 12 | | Introduced by: Senator Pischke |
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| 14 | 14 | | Underscores indicate new language. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Overstrikes indicate deleted language. |
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| 16 | 16 | | An Act to prohibit the use of voter centers in a county. 1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA: 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | Section 1. That § 12-1-3 be AMENDED: 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | 12-1-3. Terms used in this title mean: 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | (1) "Ballot question committee," as defined by § 12-27-1; 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | (2) "Candidate," a person whose name is on the ballot or who is entitled to be on the 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | ballot to be voted upon for nomination or election at any election; 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | (3) "Election," any election held under the laws of this state; 8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | (4) "Election officials," state and local officials charged with the duty of conducting 9 |
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| 25 | 25 | | elections and the canvass of returns; 10 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (5) "Elector," a person qualified to register as a voter, whether or not the person is 11 |
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| 27 | 27 | | registered; 12 |
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| 28 | 28 | | (6) "Electronic pollbook," an electronic system containing both the registration list and 13 |
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| 29 | 29 | | pollbook; 14 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (7) "General election," the vote required to be taken in each voting precinct of the 15 |
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| 31 | 31 | | state on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even -16 |
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| 32 | 32 | | numbered year; 17 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (8) "Independent" or "no party affiliation," any currently registered voter who writes 18 |
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| 34 | 34 | | independent, I, Ind, no party affiliation, no party, no choice, nonpartisan, or line 19 |
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| 35 | 35 | | crossed off in the choice of party field on the voter registration form and any 20 |
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| 36 | 36 | | individual who is not currently registered to vote who leaves the choice of party 21 |
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| 37 | 37 | | field blank on the voter registration form; 22 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (9) "Independent candidate," notwithstanding the definition of independent as stated 23 |
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| 39 | 39 | | in this section, any registered voter, regardless of party affiliation, who declares to 24 |
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| 40 | 40 | | be an independent candidate for public office pursuant to this chapter; 25 25.442.14 2 103 |
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| 41 | 41 | | Underscores indicate new language. |
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| 42 | 42 | | Overstrikes indicate deleted language. |
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| 43 | 43 | | (10) "Other," any voter who writes a political party not recognized in this state in the 1 |
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| 44 | 44 | | choice of party field on the voter registration form; 2 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (11) "Paid circulator," any person who receives money or anything of value for collecting 3 |
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| 46 | 46 | | signatures for a petition; 4 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (9)(12) "Party office," an office of a political party organization as distinct from a public 5 |
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| 48 | 48 | | office; 6 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (10)(13) "Person in charge of an election," or "person charged with the conduct of an 7 |
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| 50 | 50 | | election," the county auditor in all cases except local elections for a municipality, 8 |
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| 51 | 51 | | school district, township, or other political subdivision, in which case it is the officer 9 |
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| 52 | 52 | | having the position comparable to the auditor in that unit of government if not 10 |
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| 53 | 53 | | specifically designated by law; 11 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (11)(14) "Petition," a form prescribed by the State Board of Elections, which contains 12 |
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| 55 | 55 | | the question or candidacy being petitioned, the declaration of candidacy if required 13 |
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| 56 | 56 | | and the verification of the circulator. If multiple sheets of paper are necessary to 14 |
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| 57 | 57 | | obtain the required number of signatures, each sheet shall be self-contained and 15 |
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| 58 | 58 | | separately verified by the circulator; 16 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (12)(15) "Petition circulator," a resident of the State of South Dakota as defined under 17 |
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| 60 | 60 | | § 12-1-4, who is at least eighteen years of age who circulates nominating petitions 18 |
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| 61 | 61 | | or other petitions for the purpose of placing candidates or issues on any election 19 |
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| 62 | 62 | | ballot; 20 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (13)(16) "Political party," beginning with the 2014 general election and each general 21 |
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| 64 | 64 | | election thereafter, a party whose candidate for any statewide office received at 22 |
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| 65 | 65 | | least two and one-half percent of the total votes cast for that statewide office in 23 |
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| 66 | 66 | | either of the two previous general election cycles; 24 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (14)(17) "Pollbook" or "poll list," a list containing in numerical order the names of all 25 |
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| 68 | 68 | | persons voting at the election and type of ballot voted; 26 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (15)(18) "Polling place," a designated place voters may go to vote; 27 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (16)(19) "Poll watcher," a person chosen to observe the conduct of an election by a 28 |
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| 71 | 71 | | candidate, political party, or ballot question committee; 29 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (17)(20) "Primary" or "primary election," an election held at which candidates are 30 |
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| 73 | 73 | | nominated for public office; 31 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (18)(21) "Public office," an elected position in government; 32 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (19)(22) "Registration list," a list of eligible voters; 33 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (20)(23) "Registered mail," does not include certified mail; 34 25.442.14 3 103 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Underscores indicate new language. |
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| 78 | 78 | | Overstrikes indicate deleted language. |
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| 79 | 79 | | (21)(24) "Registration officials," the county auditor and deputies and other persons 1 |
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| 80 | 80 | | authorized to assist in registration pursuant to chapter 12-4; and 2 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (22) "Vote center," a polling place when the precinct has been defined as the entire 3 |
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| 82 | 82 | | jurisdiction and an electronic pollbook is utilized; 4 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (23)(25) "Voter," a person duly registered to vote or one who is performing the act of 5 |
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| 84 | 84 | | voting; 6 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (24) "Independent (IND)" or "no party affiliation (NPA)," any currently registered voter 7 |
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| 86 | 86 | | who writes independent, I, Ind, no party affiliation, no party, no choice, 8 |
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| 87 | 87 | | nonpartisan, or line crossed off in the choice of party field on the voter registration 9 |
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| 88 | 88 | | form and any individual who is not currently registered to vote who leaves the 10 |
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| 89 | 89 | | choice of party field blank on the voter registration form; 11 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (25) "Independent candidate," notwithstanding the definition of independent as stated 12 |
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| 91 | 91 | | in this chapter, any registered voter regardless of party affiliation who declares to 13 |
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| 92 | 92 | | be an independent candidate for public office pursuant to this chapter; 14 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (26) "Other," any voter who writes a political party not recognized in South Dakota in 15 |
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| 94 | 94 | | the choice of party field on the voter registration form. 16 |
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| 95 | 95 | | Section 2. That § 12-6-7 be AMENDED: 17 |
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| 96 | 96 | | 12-6-7. A nominating petition may be composed of several sheets , each. Each 18 |
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| 97 | 97 | | sheet shall must have identical headings printed at the top and shall must be a self-19 |
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| 98 | 98 | | contained sheet of paper. The petition for a candidate for the Legislature shall must 20 |
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| 99 | 99 | | designate the senatorial or representative district number and house for which the person 21 |
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| 100 | 100 | | individual is a candidate. 22 |
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| 101 | 101 | | The petition for party office or political public office for a state or federal candidate 23 |
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| 102 | 102 | | shall must be signed by not less than at least one percent of the voters who voted for that 24 |
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| 103 | 103 | | party's gubernatorial candidate at the last gubernatorial election in the state. A petition 25 |
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| 104 | 104 | | for the Legislature, county party office, or county political public office shall must be signed 26 |
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| 105 | 105 | | by not less than at least one percent of the voters who voted for that party's gubernatorial 27 |
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| 106 | 106 | | candidate at the last gubernatorial election, or fifty voters, in the county, part of the 28 |
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| 107 | 107 | | county, or district electing a candidate to fill the office, whichever is less. 29 |
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| 108 | 108 | | If the party meets the requirement for alternative political status, as defined in 30 |
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| 109 | 109 | | § 12-1-3.1, the petition for party office or political public office for a state or federal 31 |
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| 110 | 110 | | candidate shall must be signed by not less than at least one percent of the voters who 32 |
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| 111 | 111 | | voted for that party's statewide candidate receiving the highest votes at the last 33 |
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| 112 | 112 | | gubernatorial election in the state. A petition for the Legislature, county party office, or 34 25.442.14 4 103 |
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| 113 | 113 | | Underscores indicate new language. |
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| 114 | 114 | | Overstrikes indicate deleted language. |
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| 115 | 115 | | county political public office shall must be signed by not less than at least one percent of 1 |
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| 116 | 116 | | the voters who voted for that party's statewide candidate receiving the highest votes at 2 |
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| 117 | 117 | | the last gubernatorial election in the county, part of the county, or district electing a 3 |
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| 118 | 118 | | candidate to fill the office, whichever is less. 4 |
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| 119 | 119 | | If a county uses vote centers and does not print ballots by precinct, signature 5 |
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| 120 | 120 | | requirements are: 6 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (1) For both partisan and independent candidates, fifty signatures for a legislative 7 |
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| 122 | 122 | | candidate whose district either in whole or in part includes that county; 8 |
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| 123 | 123 | | (2) For a county candidate: 9 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (a) Partisan candidate petitions shall be signed by the lesser of fifty signatures 10 |
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| 125 | 125 | | or signatures from one percent of the voters who voted for that party's 11 |
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| 126 | 126 | | gubernatorial candidate, or the party’s statewide candidate receiving the 12 |
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| 127 | 127 | | highest votes if the party meets the requirement for alternative party status 13 |
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| 128 | 128 | | as defined in § 12-1-3.1, at the last gubernatorial election in the county 14 |
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| 129 | 129 | | electing a candidate to fill the office; or 15 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (b) Independent candidate petitions shall be signed by not less than one 16 |
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| 131 | 131 | | percent of the total combined vote for Governor at the last certified election 17 |
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| 132 | 132 | | within the county electing a candidate to fill the office; 18 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (3) Half the number of signatures required under subdivision (2), for county 19 |
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| 134 | 134 | | commissioner district candidates; 20 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (4) Five signatures for a new party legislative candidate whose district either in whole 21 |
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| 136 | 136 | | or in part includes that county; 22 |
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| 137 | 137 | | (5) Five signatures for a new party county candidate; or 23 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (6) Three signatures for a new party county commissioner district candidate. 24 |
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| 139 | 139 | | Section 3. That § 12-15-1 be AMENDED: 25 |
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| 140 | 140 | | 12-15-1. The county auditor shall, not less than twenty days before any election, 26 |
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| 141 | 141 | | appoint a precinct superintendent and two precinct deputies who shall constitute the 27 |
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| 142 | 142 | | precinct election board and a precinct superintendent and two precinct deputies of the 28 |
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| 143 | 143 | | counting board, if the board is appointed pursuant to § 12-15-14 or 12-15-14.1, for each 29 |
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| 144 | 144 | | of the voting precincts or vote centers of the county. Additional precinct deputies may be 30 |
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| 145 | 145 | | appointed in increments of two. The county auditor shall make the appointments from 31 |
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| 146 | 146 | | lists of names submitted by the county central committee of each party. If the county 32 |
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| 147 | 147 | | auditor fails to receive the list at least forty-five days prior to an election, the county 33 |
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| 148 | 148 | | auditor shall must make the appointments. 34 25.442.14 5 103 |
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| 149 | 149 | | Underscores indicate new language. |
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| 150 | 150 | | Overstrikes indicate deleted language. |
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| 151 | 151 | | Section 4. That § 12-17B-20 be AMENDED: 1 |
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| 152 | 152 | | 12-17B-20. The post-election audit must be conducted in five percent of the 2 |
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| 153 | 153 | | precincts in the county by manually counting all votes cast in two contests and comparing 3 |
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| 154 | 154 | | the results of the manual count to the results for those precincts at the county canvass. 4 |
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| 155 | 155 | | The county auditor shall select the precincts for the audit at random, without the use of a 5 |
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| 156 | 156 | | computer, in public, during the meeting of the county canvassing board. If the combined 6 |
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| 157 | 157 | | total of all ballots cast in the precincts selected does not exceed one hundred ballots, then 7 |
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| 158 | 158 | | additional precincts must be randomly selected until the total of all ballots exceeds one 8 |
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| 159 | 159 | | hundred ballots. For the purposes of this section, the term precinct includes vote centers, 9 |
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| 160 | 160 | | but a precinct does not include any precinct designated as an absentee precinct. 10 |
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| 161 | 161 | | The county auditor shall select the contests for the audit at random, without the 11 |
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| 162 | 162 | | use of a computer, in public, during the meeting of the county canvassing board. One 12 |
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| 163 | 163 | | contest randomly selected for the audit must be a statewide contest. If there are no 13 |
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| 164 | 164 | | statewide contests on the ballot, the auditor randomly shall must select another contest 14 |
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| 165 | 165 | | on the ballot. If there is only one contest on the ballot, that contest must be audited. 15 |
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| 166 | 166 | | Section 5. That § 12-19-9 be AMENDED: 16 |
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| 167 | 167 | | 12-19-9. An authorized messenger shall deliver the absentee ballot to the office 17 |
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| 168 | 168 | | of the person in charge of the election, unless there is not sufficient insufficient time for 18 |
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| 169 | 169 | | the person in charge of the election to transmit the absentee ballot to the voter's home 19 |
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| 170 | 170 | | precinct or a vote center as prescribed by § 12-14-17. In that instance. 20 |
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| 171 | 171 | | If there is insufficient time for the person in charge of the election to transmit the 21 |
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| 172 | 172 | | absentee ballot to the voter's home precinct , the authorized messenger shall must 22 |
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| 173 | 173 | | personally deliver the absentee ballot to the precinct superintendent of the voter's home 23 |
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| 174 | 174 | | precinct. If the authorized messenger requests a receipt when returning the absentee 24 |
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| 175 | 175 | | ballot, the person in charge of the election shall must provide the authorized messenger 25 |
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| 176 | 176 | | a receipt. 26 |
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| 177 | 177 | | Section 6. That § 12-16-28 be AMENDED: 27 |
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| 178 | 178 | | 12-16-28. The person in charge of an election shall provide paper ballot precincts 28 |
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| 179 | 179 | | with a pollbook, in the form prescribed by the State Board of Elections, for each election 29 |
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| 180 | 180 | | precinct, for the purposes of § 12-18-5. If any jurisdiction uses electronic pollbooks, but 30 |
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| 181 | 181 | | does not use vote centers, the person in charge of the election shall must provide a printed 31 25.442.14 6 103 |
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| 182 | 182 | | Underscores indicate new language. |
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| 183 | 183 | | Overstrikes indicate deleted language. |
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| 184 | 184 | | paper voter registration list and a printed and bound paper pollbook to each precinct, prior 1 |
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| 185 | 185 | | to the opening of the polls. 2 |
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| 186 | 186 | | Section 7. That § 12-14-17 be REPEALED. 3 |
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| 187 | 187 | | Notwithstanding any other law, a jurisdiction may conduct an election using vote 4 |
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| 188 | 188 | | centers in accordance with this section. The election shall be conducted in accordance with 5 |
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| 189 | 189 | | all applicable election laws and rules other than: 6 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (1) The jurisdiction may use vote centers that allow voters in the jurisdiction to vote 7 |
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| 191 | 191 | | at any of the vote centers in lieu of establishing precincts and wards for the 8 |
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| 192 | 192 | | election; 9 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (2) Any person who is registered to vote and living in the jurisdiction may be appointed 10 |
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| 194 | 194 | | as a polling place superintendent or deputy to any of the vote centers; 11 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (3) Secure, encrypted electronic pollbooks shall be used in lieu of paper registration 12 |
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| 196 | 196 | | books; 13 |
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| 197 | 197 | | (4) The entire jurisdiction is designated as one voting precinct for the election; and 14 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (5) Any jurisdiction that uses vote centers shall provide a printed paper voter 15 |
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| 199 | 199 | | registration list and a printed and bound paper pollbook to each vote center prior 16 |
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| 200 | 200 | | to the opening of the polls. 17 |
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