CSHB 47(STA): "An Act relating to primary elections and to the delivery of the primary ballots to persons making application for them when, by operation of political party rule, two or more primary ballots must be provided to the public."
00CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 47(STA) 01 "An Act relating to primary elections and to the delivery of the primary ballots 02 to persons making application for them when, by operation of political party rule, 03 two or more primary ballots must be provided to the public." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT. (a) To implement the stipulation 06 and approval entered into between the state and various parties in the case captioned Zawacki 07 v. State, No. A-92-414-Civil, in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, the 08 lieutenant governor prepared and adopted a series of emergency regulations, codified as 6 09 AAC 28. Among the provisions was a subsection, 6 AAC 28.040(c), directing that "if an 10 applicant for an absentee ballot does not indicate a ballot preference on the absentee ballot 11 application, the director [of elections] will send the applicant the open primary (statutory) 12 ballot." As a result of the stipulated subsection, persons registered to the one political party 13 whose rules then required the use of a ballot containing a listing of candidates limited to those 14 who were registered as members of that political party received the absentee ballot for the
01 September 8, 1992, primary that contained the names of candidates seeking the nomination 02 of other political parties. The regulations in question lapsed, effective November 7, 1992, and 03 do not apply to future primary elections. 04 (b) The purpose of AS 15.20.155, added by sec. 2 of this Act, is to establish that, for 05 purposes of guiding future primary elections, if a political party's rules require the use of an 06 absentee ballot containing a listing of candidates limited to those who were registered as 07 members of that political party, absentee ballot applicants shall receive the primary election 08 ballot of their choice or, in the event of failure to indicate a choice or lack of opportunity to 09 make the choice, shall receive the appropriate primary election ballots and shall be directed 10 to make a choice between them, and will not be required to vote an absentee ballot that 11 contains the names of candidates seeking the nomination of other political parties. 12 (c) It is the intent of the legislature in enacting secs. 3 and 4 of this Act to amend the 13 nominating process to take into account the decision in Tashjian v. Republican Party of 14 Connecticut, 479 U.S. 208 (1986). 15 * Sec. 2. AS 15.20 is amended by adding a new section to read: 16 Sec. 15.20.155. DELIVERY OF PRIMARY BALLOT. (a) The provisions 17 of this section apply when 18 (1) the central committee or other governing body of a political party 19 adopts a rule that, notwithstanding AS 15.25.010 - 15.25.130, nominees of the party 20 may not be chosen by a primary election open to all voters, but rather shall be chosen 21 by a primary election that is limited to voters whose political affiliation or 22 nonaffiliation is designated by the party rules; and 23 (2) the director is prevented by application of that rule from providing 24 to a voter the ballot of a political party if, under the rules of that party, the voter 25 would not be eligible to vote in that party's primary election. 26 (b) If an applicant for an absentee ballot under AS 15.20.071, 15.20.081, or 27 15.20.082 28 (1) indicates a ballot preference on the absentee ballot application when 29 opportunity to indicate the preference has been provided on the absentee ballot 30 application, the director shall deliver to the applicant the primary ballot indicated on 31 the application;
01 (2) does not indicate a ballot preference on the absentee ballot 02 application when opportunity to indicate the preference has been provided on the 03 absentee ballot application, or the applicant has not been given an opportunity on the 04 absentee ballot application to indicate the applicant's preference, the director shall 05 deliver to the applicant all primary ballots that are appropriate to the primary election 06 of the applicant's political party affiliation or nonaffiliation, together with an 07 instruction to vote only one of the ballots; the director shall make the determination 08 of appropriateness of the primary ballots on the basis of voter registration documents 09 maintained by the director. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 15.25.060 is amended to read: 11 Sec. 15.25.060. PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF BALLOTS. The 12 primary election ballot shall be prepared and distributed by the director in the manner 13 prescribed for general election ballots except as specifically provided otherwise for the 14 primary election. Except when (b) of this section otherwise requires, the [THE] 15 director shall place the names of all candidates who have properly filed in groups 16 according to offices filed for, without regard to party affiliation. The names for each 17 office shall be rotated as provided for the general election ballot. Blank [NO 18 BLANK] spaces may not [SHALL] be provided on the ballot for the writing or 19 pasting in of names. The ballot prepared under this subsection shall be designated, 20 prominently labeled, and referred to as the "statutory primary ballot." In this 21 subsection, "statutory primary ballot" means that the ballot is available to all 22 qualified and eligible voters of the state. 23 * Sec. 4. AS 15.25.060 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 24 (b) If (1) the central committee or other governing body of a political party 25 adopts a rule that, notwithstanding AS 15.25.010 - 15.25.130, nominees of the party 26 may not be chosen by a primary election open to all voters, but rather shall be chosen 27 by a primary election limited to voters whose political affiliation or nonaffiliation is 28 designated by the party rule; (2) the central committee or other governing body of the 29 party delivers a copy of the rule to the director no later than March 1 of the year in 30 which a primary election is to take place; and (3) the rule has been submitted to the 31 United States Department of Justice for review under 42 U.S.C. 1973c (section 5,
01 Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended) and the Department of Justice has provided 02 an affirmative indication of nonobjection to the rule's implementation, the director 03 shall prepare a separate ballot listing only the candidates of that party, and shall 04 authorize the distribution of that ballot only to the registered voters who are eligible 05 to vote in that party's primary under the party rule. Candidates who are listed on a 06 separate ballot under this subsection may not be listed on the ballot described in (a) 07 of this section. The names of the candidates for each office shall be rotated as 08 provided for the general election ballot, and blank spaces may not be provided on the 09 ballot for the writing or pasting in of names. A ballot prepared under this subsection 10 shall be designated, prominently labeled, and referred to as the "(insert name of the 11 party whose candidates appear on the ballot) party primary ballot." 12 (c) If at a primary election under AS 15.25.010 there is more than one ballot 13 available, a registered voter may choose which ballot the voter wishes to use. A voter 14 may not be given more than one ballot, and may not be given a ballot of a political 15 party if, under the rules of that party as delivered to the director under (b) of this 16 section, the voter would not be eligible to vote in that party's primary election.