00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 47(FIN)(fld S) 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; preventing a voter 04 from changing the voter's party affiliation within 30 days of a primary election 05 when two or more primary ballots must be provided to the public; and annulling 06 a related regulation; and providing for an effective date." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT. (a) To implement the stipulation 09 and approval entered into between the state and various parties in the case captioned Zawacki 10 v. State, No. A-92-414-Civil, in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, the 11 lieutenant governor prepared and adopted a series of emergency regulations, codified as 6 12 AAC 28. Among the provisions was a subsection, 6 AAC 28.040(c), directing that "if an 13 applicant for an absentee ballot does not indicate a ballot preference on the absentee ballot 14 application, the director [of elections] will send the applicant the open primary (statutory) 01 ballot." As a result of the stipulated subsection, persons registered to the one political party 02 whose rules then required the use of a ballot containing a listing of candidates limited to those 03 who were registered as members of that political party received the absentee ballot for the 04 September 8, 1992, primary that contained the names of candidates seeking the nomination 05 of other political parties. The regulations in question lapsed, effective November 7, 1992, and 06 do not apply to future primary elections. The division of elections has since adopted a 07 permanent regulation, 6 AAC 28.130(c), making the same provision. 08 (b) The purpose of AS 15.20.155, added by sec. 2 of this Act, is to establish that, for 09 purposes of guiding state primary elections after June 30, 1994, if a political party's rules 10 require the use of an absentee ballot containing a listing of candidates limited to those who 11 were registered as members of that political party, absentee ballot applicants shall receive the 12 primary election ballot of their choice or, in the event of failure to indicate a choice or lack 13 of opportunity to make the choice, shall receive the appropriate primary election ballot or, if 14 the director is unable to make a determination of the appropriate primary election ballot after 15 review of relevant division records, shall receive the open primary ballot. 16 (c) It is the intent of the legislature in enacting secs. 3 and 4 of this Act to amend the 17 nominating process to take into account the decision in Tashjian v. Republican Party of 18 Connecticut, 479 U.S. 208 (1986). 19 * Sec. 2. AS 15.20 is amended by adding a new section to read: 20  Sec. 15.20.155. DELIVERY OF PRIMARY BALLOT. (a) The provisions 21 of this section apply to a state primary election held on or after July 1, 1994, when 22  (1) the central committee or other governing body of a political party 23 adopts a rule that, notwithstanding AS 15.25.010 - 15.25.130, nominees of the party 24 may not be chosen by a primary election open to all voters, but rather shall be chosen 25 by a primary election that is limited to voters whose political affiliation or 26 nonaffiliation is designated by the party rules; and 27  (2) the director is prevented by application of that rule from providing 28 to a voter the ballot of a political party if, under the rules of that party, the voter 29 would not be eligible to vote in that party's primary election. 30  (b) If an applicant for an absentee ballot under AS 15.20.071, 15.20.081, or 31 15.20.082 01  (1) indicates a ballot preference on the absentee ballot application when 02 an opportunity to indicate the preference has been provided on the application, the 03 director shall deliver to the applicant the primary ballot indicated on the application 04 unless the director reasonably believes the applicant does not qualify to vote in that 05 party's primary election; 06  (2) does not qualify to vote in a party's primary election for which the 07 applicant has indicated a ballot preference, does not indicate a ballot preference on the 08 absentee ballot application when an opportunity to indicate the preference has been 09 provided on the application, or has not been given an opportunity on the application 10 to indicate the applicant's preference, the director shall deliver to the applicant the 11 primary ballot that is appropriate based on the applicant's political party affiliation or 12 nonaffiliation; the director shall make the determination of appropriateness of the 13 primary ballot on the basis of voter registration documents maintained by the director 14 as follows: 15  (A) the director shall determine whether the applicant has filed 16 a change of party registration at the same time the person has filed an 17 application for an absentee ballot; if the person has 18  (i) filed a change of party affiliation and the change of 19 party affiliation may take effect before the primary election, the director 20 shall make the determination of appropriateness of the primary ballot 21 on the basis of the affiliation designated by the applicant on that change 22 of party registration form; 23  (ii) not filed a change of party affiliation, or has filed a 24 change of party affiliation that may not take effect before the primary 25 election because of the operation of AS 15.25.090(b), the director shall 26 make the determination of appropriateness of the primary ballot on the 27 basis of the then current registration of the applicant; 28  (B) the primary ballot that is appropriate based on the 29 applicant's political party affiliation or nonaffiliation is 30  (i) the ballot described in AS 15.25.060(b) of the 31 appropriate political party, if the applicant's registration shows 01 affiliation with a political party for which a separate ballot is required 02 under AS 15.25.060(b); or 03  (ii) the open primary ballot described in AS 15.25.060(a) 04 in cases not described in (i) of this subparagraph. 05 * Sec. 3. AS 15.25.060 is amended to read: 06  Sec. 15.25.060. PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF BALLOTS. The 07 primary election ballot shall be prepared and distributed by the director in the manner 08 prescribed for general election ballots except as specifically provided otherwise for the 09 primary election. Except when (b) of this section otherwise requires, the [THE] 10 director shall place the names of all candidates who have properly filed in groups 11 according to offices filed for, without regard to party affiliation. The names for each 12 office shall be rotated as provided for the general election ballot. Blank [NO 13 BLANK] spaces may not [SHALL] be provided on the ballot for the writing or 14 pasting in of names. The ballot prepared under this subsection shall be designated, 15 prominently labeled, and referred to as the "open primary ballot." In this 16 subsection, "open primary ballot" means that the ballot is available to all 17 qualified and eligible voters of the state. 18 * Sec. 4. AS 15.25.060 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 19  (b) If, for a primary election held on or after July 1, 1994, (1) the central 20 committee or other governing body of a political party adopts a rule that, 21 notwithstanding AS 15.25.010 - 15.25.130, nominees of the party may not be chosen 22 by a primary election open to all voters, but rather shall be chosen by a primary 23 election limited to voters whose political affiliation or nonaffiliation is designated by 24 the party rule; (2) the central committee or other governing body of the party delivers 25 a copy of the rule to the director no later than March 1 of the year in which a primary 26 election is to take place; and (3) the rule has been submitted to the United States 27 Department of Justice for review under 42 U.S.C. 1973c (section 5, Voting Rights Act 28 of 1965, as amended) and the Department of Justice has provided an affirmative 29 indication of nonobjection to the rule's implementation, the director shall prepare a 30 separate ballot listing only the candidates of that party, and shall authorize the 31 distribution of that ballot only to the registered voters who are eligible to vote in that 01 party's primary under the party rule. Candidates who are listed on a separate ballot 02 under this subsection may not be listed on the ballot described in (a) of this section. 03 The names of the candidates for each office shall be rotated as provided for the general 04 election ballot, and blank spaces may not be provided on the ballot for the writing or 05 pasting in of names. A ballot prepared under this subsection shall be designated, 06 prominently labeled, and referred to as the "(insert name of the party whose candidates 07 appear on the ballot) party primary ballot." 08  (c) If at a primary election under AS 15.25.010 there is more than one ballot 09 available, a registered voter may choose which ballot the voter wishes to use. A voter 10 may not be given more than one ballot, and may not be given a ballot of a political 11 party if, under the rules of that party as delivered to the director under (b) of this 12 section, the voter would not be eligible to vote in that party's primary election. 13 * Sec. 5. AS 15.25.090 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 14  (b) The director shall change the party affiliation of a registered voter when 15 requested by the voter. However, when a primary election involves a ballot required 16 by AS 15.25.060(b), the director may not change a registered voter's party affiliation 17 during the period after the 30th day preceding the primary election and the date of the 18 primary election. 19 * Sec. 6. 6 AAC 28.130(c) is annulled. 20 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).