CSSB 63(STA): "An Act making contracts for the preparation of election ballots subject to the provisions of the state procurement code."
00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 63(STA) 01 "An Act making contracts for the preparation of election ballots subject to the 02 provisions of the state procurement code." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 15.15.030 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 15.15.030. Preparation of official ballot. The director shall prepare all 06 official ballots to facilitate fairness, simplicity, and clarity in the voting procedure, to 07 reflect most accurately the intent of the voter, and to expedite the administration of 08 elections. The following directives shall be followed when applicable: 09 (1) The director shall determine the size of the ballot, the type of print, 10 necessary additional instruction notes to voters, and other similar matters of form not 11 provided by law. 12 (2) The director shall number ballots in series to ensure [ASSURE] 13 simplicity and secrecy and to prevent fraud. 14 (3) The director shall [MAY CONTRACT FOR THE
01 PREPARATION OF THE BALLOTS ON A REGIONAL BASIS IF NECESSARY 02 AND MAY] contract for the preparation of ballots under AS 36.30 (State 03 Procurement Code) [WITHOUT OBTAINING COMPETITIVE BIDS] . 04 (4) The director may not include on the ballot as a part of a candidate's 05 name, any honorary or assumed title or prefix but may include in the candidate's name 06 any nickname or familiar form of a proper name of the candidate. 07 (5) The names of the candidates and their party designations shall be 08 placed in separate sections on the state general election ballot under the office 09 designation to which they were nominated. The party affiliation, if any, shall be 10 designated after the name of the candidate. The lieutenant governor and the governor 11 shall be included under the same section. Provision shall be made for voting for write- 12 in and no-party candidates within each section. Paper ballots for the state general 13 election shall be printed on white paper. 14 (6) The names of the candidates for each office shall be set out in the 15 same order on ballots printed for use in each house district. The director shall 16 randomly determine the order of the names of the candidates for state representative 17 for each house district. The director shall rotate the order of placement of the names of 18 candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, United States senator, United States 19 representative, and state senator on the ballot for each house district. 20 (7) The general election ballot shall be designed with the names of 21 candidates of each political party, and of any independent candidates qualified under 22 AS 15.30.026, for the office of President and Vice-President of the United States 23 placed in the same section on the ballot rather than the names of electors of President 24 and Vice-President. 25 (8) The general or special election ballot shall be designed with the 26 title and proposition for any initiative, referendum, or constitutional amendment 27 formulated as prescribed by law and placed on the ballot in the manner prescribed by 28 the director. When placed on the ballot, a state ballot proposition or ballot question 29 shall carry the number that was assigned to the petition for the proposition or question. 30 Provision shall be made for marking the proposition "Yes" or "No." 31 (9) The general or special election ballot shall be designed with the
01 question of whether a constitutional convention shall be called placed on the ballot in 02 the following manner: "Shall there be a constitutional convention?" Provision shall be 03 made for marking the question "Yes" or "No." 04 (10) A nonpartisan ballot shall be designed for each judicial district in 05 which a justice or judge is seeking retention in office. The ballot shall be divided into 06 four parts. Each [AND EACH] part must bear a heading indicating the court to which 07 the candidate is seeking approval, and provision shall be made for marking each 08 question "Yes" or "No." [.] Within each part, the question of whether the justice or 09 judge shall be approved or rejected shall be set out in substantially the following 10 manner: 11 (A) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as justice of the supreme court 12 for 10 years?"; 13 (B) "Shall . . . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the court of 14 appeals for eight years?"; 15 (C) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the superior court 16 for six years?"; or 17 (D) "Shall . . . . . . . be retained as judge of the district court for 18 four years?" [PROVISION SHALL BE MADE FOR MARKING EACH 19 QUESTION "YES" OR "NO."] 20 (11) When the legislature by law authorizes a state debt for capital 21 improvements, the director shall place the question of whether the specific 22 authorization shall be ratified by placing the ballot title and question on the next 23 general election ballot, or on the special election ballot if a special election is held for 24 the purpose of ratifying the state debt for capital improvements before the time of the 25 next general election. Unless specifically provided otherwise in the Act authorizing 26 the debt, the ballot title shall, by the use of a few words in a succinct manner, indicate 27 the general subject of the Act. The question shall, by the use of a few sentences in a 28 succinct manner, give a true and impartial summary of the Act authorizing the state 29 debt. The question of whether state debt shall be contracted shall be assigned a letter 30 of the alphabet on the ballot. Provision shall be made for marking the question 31 substantially as follows:
01 "Bonds. . . . . . . Yes" or "Bonds . . . . . . No," 02 followed by an appropriate oval. 03 (12) The director may provide for the optical scanning of ballots where 04 the requisite equipment is available. 05 (13) The director may provide for voting by use of electronically 06 generated ballots by a voter who requests to use a machine that produces electronically 07 generated ballots. 08 * Sec. 2. AS 36.30.850(b)(7) is amended to read: 09 (7) contracts for the [PREPARATION AND] transportation of ballots 10 under AS 15; 11 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 12 read: 13 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to contracts for the preparation of ballots for 14 elections conducted on or after January 1, 2014.