SB 63: "An Act relating to contracts for the preparation of election ballots."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 63 01 "An Act relating to contracts for the preparation of election ballots." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 15.15.030 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 15.15.030. Preparation of official ballot. The director shall prepare all 05 official ballots to facilitate fairness, simplicity, and clarity in the voting procedure, to 06 reflect most accurately the intent of the voter, and to expedite the administration of 07 elections. The following directives shall be followed when applicable: 08 (1) The director shall determine the size of the ballot, the type of print, 09 necessary additional instruction notes to voters, and other similar matters of form not 10 provided by law. 11 (2) The director shall number ballots in series to ensure [ASSURE] 12 simplicity and secrecy and to prevent fraud. 13 (3) The director may contract for the preparation of the ballots on a 14 regional basis if necessary and shall [MAY] contract for the preparation of ballots by 15 [WITHOUT] obtaining [COMPETITIVE] bids as provided in AS 15.15.031.
01 (4) The director may not include on the ballot as a part of a candidate's 02 name, any honorary or assumed title or prefix but may include in the candidate's name 03 any nickname or familiar form of a proper name of the candidate. 04 (5) The names of the candidates and their party designations shall be 05 placed in separate sections on the state general election ballot under the office 06 designation to which they were nominated. The party affiliation, if any, shall be 07 designated after the name of the candidate. The lieutenant governor and the governor 08 shall be included under the same section. Provision shall be made for voting for write- 09 in and no-party candidates within each section. Paper ballots for the state general 10 election shall be printed on white paper. 11 (6) The names of the candidates for each office shall be set out in the 12 same order on ballots printed for use in each house district. The director shall 13 randomly determine the order of the names of the candidates for state representative 14 for each house district. The director shall rotate the order of placement of the names of 15 candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, United States senator, United States 16 representative, and state senator on the ballot for each house district. 17 (7) The general election ballot shall be designed with the names of 18 candidates of each political party, and of any independent candidates qualified under 19 AS 15.30.026, for the office of President and Vice-President of the United States 20 placed in the same section on the ballot rather than the names of electors of President 21 and Vice-President. 22 (8) The general or special election ballot shall be designed with the 23 title and proposition for any initiative, referendum, or constitutional amendment 24 formulated as prescribed by law and placed on the ballot in the manner prescribed by 25 the director. When placed on the ballot, a state ballot proposition or ballot question 26 shall carry the number that was assigned to the petition for the proposition or question. 27 Provision shall be made for marking the proposition "Yes" or "No." 28 (9) The general or special election ballot shall be designed with the 29 question of whether a constitutional convention shall be called placed on the ballot in 30 the following manner: "Shall there be a constitutional convention?" Provision shall be 31 made for marking the question "Yes" or "No."
01 (10) A nonpartisan ballot shall be designed for each judicial district in 02 which a justice or judge is seeking retention in office. The ballot shall be divided into 03 four parts. Each [AND EACH] part must bear a heading indicating the court to which 04 the candidate is seeking approval, and provision shall be made for marking each 05 question "yes" or "no." [.] Within each part, the question of whether the justice or 06 judge shall be approved or rejected shall be set out in substantially the following 07 manner: 08 (A) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as justice of the supreme court 09 for 10 years?"; 10 (B) "Shall . . . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the court of 11 appeals for eight years?"; 12 (C) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the superior court 13 for six years?"; or 14 (D) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the district court for 15 four years?" [PROVISION SHALL BE MADE FOR MARKING EACH 16 QUESTION "YES" OR "NO."] 17 (11) When the legislature by law authorizes a state debt for capital 18 improvements, the director shall place the question of whether the specific 19 authorization shall be ratified by placing the ballot title and question on the next 20 general election ballot, or on the special election ballot if a special election is held for 21 the purpose of ratifying the state debt for capital improvements before the time of the 22 next general election. Unless specifically provided otherwise in the Act authorizing 23 the debt, the ballot title shall, by the use of a few words in a succinct manner, indicate 24 the general subject of the Act. The question shall, by the use of a few sentences in a 25 succinct manner, give a true and impartial summary of the Act authorizing the state 26 debt. The question of whether state debt shall be contracted shall be assigned a letter 27 of the alphabet on the ballot. Provision shall be made for marking the question 28 substantially as follows: 29 "Bonds. . . . . . . Yes" or "Bonds . . . . . . No," 30 followed by an appropriate oval. 31 (12) The director may provide for the optical scanning of ballots where
01 the requisite equipment is available. 02 (13) The director may provide for voting by use of electronically 03 generated ballots by a voter who requests to use a machine that produces electronically 04 generated ballots. 05 * Sec. 2. AS 15.15 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 15.15.031. Contracts for the preparation of election ballots. (a) Except 07 as provided in (b) of this section, the director shall award a contract for the preparation 08 of election ballots to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder whose bid conforms 09 in all material respects to the requirements and criteria set out in the invitation to bid. 10 (b) The director shall award a contract based on solicited bids to the lowest 11 responsive and responsible bidder after an Alaska bidder preference of five percent 12 and an Alaska product preference of seven percent. 13 (c) In this section, 14 (1) "Alaska bidder" means a person who 15 (A) holds a current Alaska business license; 16 (B) submits a bid for ballot preparation under the name as 17 appearing on the person's current Alaska business license; 18 (C) has maintained a place of business in the state staffed by 19 the bidder or an employee of the bidder for a period of six months immediately 20 preceding the date of the bid; 21 (D) is 22 (i) incorporated or qualified to do business under the 23 laws of the state; 24 (ii) a sole proprietorship and the proprietor is a resident 25 of the state; 26 (iii) a limited liability company organized under 27 AS 10.50 and all members are residents of the state; or 28 (iv) a partnership under former AS 32.05, AS 32.06, or 29 AS 32.11 and all partners are residents of the state; and 30 (E) if a joint venture, is composed entirely of ventures that 31 qualify under (A) - (D) of this paragraph.
01 (2) "Alaska product" means a product 02 (A) that is processed, developed, or made into a new item with 03 a distinct character and use through the application of materials, labor, skill, or 04 other services in the state, or, if a manufacturing step is subcontracted outside 05 Alaska, the step does not alter the distinct character of the product; and 06 (B) for which the responsibility for the final outcome of the 07 production or manufacturing process is controlled by an Alaska producer or 08 manufacturer. 09 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 10 read: 11 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to contracts for the preparation of ballots for 12 elections conducted on or after January 1, 2014.