00 HOUSE BILL NO. 417 01 "An Act relating to elections for state legislative offices; and providing for an 02 effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 15.15.030(5) is amended to read: 05  (5) The state general election ballot shall be printed on white paper 06 with the names of the candidates and their party designations placed in separate 07 sections under the office designation to which they were nominated. The party 08 affiliation, if any, shall be designated after the name of the candidate. The lieutenant 09 governor and the governor shall be included under the same section. Provision shall 10 be made for voting for write-in and no-party candidates within each section  except 11 sections designated for the office of state senator or state representative . 12 * Sec. 2. AS 15.15.360(a) is amended to read: 13  (a) The election board shall count hand-marked ballots according to the 14 following rules. 01  (1) A voter may mark a ballot only by the use of cross-marks, "X" 02 marks, diagonal, horizontal or vertical marks, solid marks, stars, circles, asterisks, 03 checks, or plus signs that are clearly spaced in the square opposite the name of the 04 candidate the voter desires to designate. 05  (2) A failure to properly mark a ballot as to one or more candidates 06 does not itself invalidate the entire ballot. 07  (3) If a voter marks fewer names than there are persons to be elected 08 to the office, a vote shall be counted for each candidate properly marked. 09  (4) If a voter marks more names than there are persons to be elected 10 to the office, the votes for candidates for that office may not be counted. 11  (5) The mark specified in (1) of this subsection shall be counted only 12 if it is substantially inside the square provided, or touching the square so as to indicate 13 clearly that the voter intended the particular square to be designated. 14  (6) Improper marks on the ballot may not be counted and do not 15 invalidate marks for candidates properly made. 16  (7) An erasure or correction invalidates only that section of the ballot 17 in which it appears. 18  (8) A vote marked for the candidate for President or Vice-President of 19 the United States is considered and counted as a vote for the election of the 20 presidential electors. 21  (9)  For an office in which voting for write-in candidates is allowed 22 by law, 23  (A) write-in  [WRITE-IN] votes are not invalidated by writing 24 in the name of a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot unless the 25 election board determines, on the basis of other evidence ,  that the ballot was 26 so marked for the purpose of identifying the ballot ; 27  (B) stickers  [. 28  (10) STICKERS] bearing a candidate's name may be affixed to the 29 ballot in place of writing in a candidate's name ; however, stickers  [IF WRITE-IN 30 VOTES ARE OTHERWISE PERMITTED. STICKERS] may not be 31   (i)  issued by members of the election board while 01 serving at the polls ; or 02  (ii)  [. STICKERS MAY NOT BE] offered to voters 03 within 200 feet of the polling place ; and 04  (C) in  [. 05  (11) IN] order to vote for a write-in candidate, the voter must write in 06 the candidate's name in the space provided or place a sticker in the space and, in 07 addition, mark the square opposite the candidate's name in accordance with (1) of this 08 subsection. 09   (10) For an office in which voting for write-in candidates is not 10 allowed by law, votes for that office are invalidated by writing in the name of a 11 candidate.  12 * Sec. 3. AS 15.15.430(a) is amended to read: 13  (a) The review of ballot counting by the director shall include only 14  (1) a review and comparison of the tallies of hand-marked ballots in 15 the election poll books with the precinct election certificates to correct any 16 mathematical error in the count of hand-marked ballots; 17  (2) a review of 18   (A)  the tallies of write-in votes  in contests in which write-in 19 votes are allowed by law;  and 20   (B)  [A REVIEW OF] election certificates as provided by law 21 from precincts using punch-card ballots; 22  (3) a review of absentee and questioned ballots as prescribed by law. 23 * Sec. 4. AS 15.20.082(c) is amended to read: 24  (c) A special state absentee ballot prepared for the state general election or for 25 a state special election shall, if the names of candidates are not yet certified, permit 26 a voter to cast a ballot for all the candidates of a particular political party that expects 27 to have candidates appear on the ballot; for this purpose, the director shall prepare the 28 ballot with [PARTY BOXES AND] a blank line for each office to be voted on in that 29 election. The voter may vote for a candidate for that office by writing in the name of 30 a person and marking the box to the right of that name [OR THE VOTER MAY 31 MARK ONE OF THE PARTY BOXES. IF THE VOTER PUTS A MARK IN A 01 PARTY BOX FOR THAT OFFICE, THE DIRECTOR SHALL COUNT THE MARK 02 AS A VOTE CAST FOR THE CANDIDATE FOR THAT OFFICE NOMINATED BY 03 THAT PARTY]. If the voter writes in a name for an office, the vote shall be counted 04 as a write-in vote for that office , but, if the ballot is for use in an election that 05 involves the office of state senator or state representative, only if the vote is for 06 a candidate for election to that office whose name appeared on the primary ballot . 07 The director shall count the ballots under AS 15.15.360. The director shall provide 08 the voter with 09   (1)  the names of each candidate appearing on the primary election 10 ballot ;  and 11   (2) for elections for an office in which candidates may qualify by 12 petition to appear on the general election ballot under AS 15.25.140 - 15.25.205,  13 the names of any candidates who have qualified by petition to appear on the general 14 election ballot. 15 * Sec. 5. AS 15.20.730(a) is amended to read: 16  (a) A vote for a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot shall be 17 counted only if  the candidate seeks election to an office in which write-in votes are 18 allowed by law,  the name is written in, the square following it is punched, and the 19 number of punches does not exceed the number of offices available. A write-in vote 20 for a candidate whose name is also printed on the ballot may be counted only if  the 21 candidate seeks election to an office in which write-in votes are allowed by law,  22 the square following the written name is punched, the square following the printed 23 name is not punched, and the number of punches does not exceed the number of 24 offices available. 25 * Sec. 6. AS 15.25.070 is amended to read: 26  Sec. 15.25.070. Special provisions on counting ballots. A voter may [NOT] 27 vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot  only for the office of state senator 28 or state representative . Votes cast for a person whose name is not on the ballot  for 29 any other office  may not be counted, but writing in a candidate's name does not 30 invalidate the entire ballot. 31 * Sec. 7. AS 15.25.100 is amended to read: 01  Sec. 15.25.100. Placement of nominees on general election ballot.  For all 02 offices except the office of state senator or state representative, the  [THE] director 03 shall place the name of the candidate receiving the highest number of votes for an 04 office by a political party on the general election ballot. 05 * Sec. 8. AS 15.25.100 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 06  (b) For each election to the office of state senator or state representative, the 07 director shall place on the general election ballot only the names of the candidates 08 receiving the highest number of votes and the second highest number of votes for the 09 office, regardless of the political party affiliation of those candidates. If, at the 10 primary election, one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for that office, the 11 director shall place on the general election ballot only the name of that candidate. 12 * Sec. 9. AS 15.25.170 is amended to read: 13  Sec. 15.25.170. Required number of signatures for district-wide office.  14 Petitions for the nomination of candidates for the office of state senator or state 15 representative shall be signed by qualified voters of the election or senate district in 16 which the proposed nominee desires to be a candidate equal in number to at least one 17 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the proposed nominee's respective 18 election or senate district in the preceding  primary  [GENERAL] election. A 19 nominating petition may not contain less than 50 signatures for any district. 20 * Sec. 10. AS 15.25.180(a) is amended to read: 21  (a) The petition must state in substance 22  (1) the full name of the candidate; 23  (2) the full residence address of the candidate, and the date on which 24 residency at that address began; 25  (3) the full mailing address of the candidate; 26  (4) the name of the political group, if any, supporting the candidate; 27  (5) if the candidacy is for the office of state senator or state 28 representative, the election or senate district of which the candidate is a resident; 29  (6) the office for which the candidate is nominated; 30  (7) the date of the election at which the candidate seeks election; 31  (8) the length of residency in the state and in the district of the 01 candidate; 02  (9) that the subscribers are qualified voters of the state or election or 03 senate district in which the candidate resides; 04  (10) that the subscribers request that  if the petition is submitted for 05 the offices of 06  (A) state senator or state representative,  the candidate's name 07 be placed on the primary election ballot; 08   (B) governor, lieutenant governor, United States senator, or 09 United States representative, the candidate's name be placed on the general 10 election ballot;  11  (11) that the proposed candidate accepts the nomination and will serve 12 if elected, with the statement signed by the proposed candidate; 13  (12) the name of the candidate as the candidate wishes it to appear on 14 the ballot; and 15  (13) that the candidate is not a candidate for any other office to be 16 voted on at the primary or general election and that the candidate is not a candidate 17 for this office under any other nominating petition or declaration of candidacy. 18 * Sec. 11. AS 15.25.205(a) is amended to read: 19  (a) Except as provided in (b) of this section  and in AS 15.25.100 , of the 20 names of persons that appear on the primary election ballot under AS 15.25.190, the 21 director shall place on the general election ballot the name of the candidate of each 22 political group that receives the greatest number of votes for an office. 23 * Sec. 12. This Act takes effect January 1, 2001.