HB 442: "An Act relating to the primary election; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 442 01 "An Act relating to the primary election; and providing for an effective date." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 04 to read: 05 PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to 06 (1) comply with the decision of the United States Supreme Court in California 07 Democratic Party v. Jones, 530 U.S. 567 (2000), which required state law to recognize a 08 political party's right to determine with whom they will associate under the First Amendment 09 to the Constitution of the United States to nominate candidates of the party to be placed on the 10 general election ballot; 11 (2) implement the findings of the primary election task force convened by the 12 lieutenant governor to respond to this court decision; and 13 (3) have a new system in place in time to conduct the next primary election in 14 an orderly and efficient manner consistent with this court decision.
01 * Sec. 2. AS 15.13.110(f) is amended to read: 02 (f) During the year in which the election is scheduled, each of the following 03 shall file the campaign disclosure reports in the manner and at the times required by 04 this section: 05 (1) a person who, under the regulations adopted by the commission to 06 implement AS 15.13.100, indicates an intention to become a candidate for elective 07 state executive or legislative office; 08 (2) a person who has filed a nominating petition under AS 15.25.140 - 09 15.25.200 to become a candidate at the primary [GENERAL] election for elective 10 state executive or legislative office; 11 (3) a person who campaigns as a write-in candidate for elective state 12 executive or legislative office at the general election; and 13 (4) a group or nongroup entity that receives contributions or makes 14 expenditures on behalf of or in opposition to a person described in (1) - (3) of this 15 subsection, except as provided for certain independent expenditures by nongroup 16 entities in AS 15.13.135(g). 17 * Sec. 3. AS 15.25.010 is repealed and reenacted to read: 18 Sec. 15.25.010. Provisions for primary election; ballots; voter 19 participation. (a) Candidates for the elective state executive, and state and national 20 legislative, offices shall be nominated in a primary election in the manner prescribed 21 by this chapter. 22 (b) The director shall prepare and provide blanket primary election ballots in 23 accordance with AS 15.25.013 and the other provisions of this chapter. 24 (c) If modified blanket primary election ballots are provided under 25 AS 15.25.013(b) to effectuate limitations on who may participate in the selection of a 26 political party's candidates under the party's bylaws, a voter may use only one of the 27 ballots. For the purpose of determining which modified blanket ballot a voter may 28 use, a voter's party affiliation is considered to be the affiliation registered with the 29 director as of the 30th day before the primary election. If a voter changes party 30 affiliation within the 30 days before the primary election, the voter's previous party 31 affiliation shall be used for the determination under this subsection.
01 * Sec. 4. AS 15.25 is amended by adding new sections to read: 02 Sec. 15.25.013. Blanket primary election ballots. (a) Except as provided in 03 (b) of this section, the director shall prepare and provide a blanket primary election 04 ballot that contains all candidates for elective state executive, and state and national 05 legislative, offices. All voters may use the blanket primary election ballot prepared 06 under this subsection. 07 (b) In place of the blanket primary election ballot under (a) of this section, if a 08 political party notifies the director under AS 15.25.015(a) that the party's bylaws limit 09 who may participate in the primary election for selection of the party's candidates, and 10 otherwise meets the requirements of this chapter and other applicable law, the director 11 shall prepare and provide modified blanket primary election ballots in a manner that 12 effectuates those limitations. The ballots prepared and provided under this subsection 13 shall preserve to all voters the right to vote for any candidate except a candidate who 14 seeks the nomination of a party that has limited voter participation. 15 Sec. 15.25.015. Participation in primary election selection of a political 16 party's candidates. (a) No later than 5:00 p.m., Alaska time, on September 1 of the 17 calendar year before the calendar year in which a primary election is to be held, a 18 political party must submit a notice in writing to the director stating whether the party 19 bylaws limit who may participate in the primary election for selection of the party's 20 candidates for elective state executive, and state and national legislative, offices. A 21 copy of the party's bylaws limiting who may participate in the primary election for 22 selection of the party's candidates, documentation required under (d) of this section, 23 and other information required by the director, must be submitted along with the 24 notice. The notice, bylaws, documentation, and other information required by the 25 director must be provided by the party's chairperson or another party official 26 designated by the party's bylaws. 27 (b) If a political party fails to timely provide the notice and information 28 required by (a) of this section or to otherwise meet the requirements of this section and 29 other applicable provisions of law, the director shall place candidates of that party 30 affiliation on a primary election ballot under AS 15.25.013 in a manner consistent with 31 no limitation on who may participate in the primary election for selection of the party's
01 candidates. 02 (c) Once a political party timely submits a notice and bylaws under (a) of this 03 section and the director finds that the party has met the requirements of this chapter 04 and other applicable laws, the primary election ballot for selection of the party's 05 candidates will continue to be consistent with that notice. However, for a subsequent 06 primary election, the party shall timely submit another notice, bylaws, documentation, 07 and other information under (a) of this section if the party's bylaws regarding a 08 limitation on who may participate in the primary election for selection of the party's 09 candidates change. 10 (d) Party bylaws required to be submitted under (a) of this section must be 11 precleared by the United States Department of Justice under 42 U.S.C. 1973c (sec. 5, 12 Voting Rights Act of 1965) before submission. Documentation of the preclearance 13 must accompany the bylaws submitted under (a) of this section. 14 * Sec. 5. AS 15.25.060 is repealed and reenacted to read: 15 Sec. 15.25.060. Preparation and distribution of ballots. Each primary 16 election ballot shall be prepared and distributed by the director in the manner 17 prescribed for general election ballots except as specifically provided otherwise for the 18 primary election. For the blanket primary election ballot under AS 15.25.013(a), the 19 director shall print the ballot on white paper and place the names of all candidates who 20 have properly filed in groups according to offices filed for, without regard to party 21 affiliation. For a modified blanket primary election ballot under AS 15.25.013(b), the 22 director shall print the ballot on white paper and place the names of candidates who 23 have properly filed, and who may appear on that ballot under AS 15.25.013 and 24 15.25.015, in groups according to the offices filed for. The order of the placement of 25 the names for each office shall be as provided for the general election ballot. Blank 26 spaces may not be provided on a ballot for the writing or pasting in of names. 27 * Sec. 6. AS 15.25.150 is amended to read: 28 Sec. 15.25.150. Date of filing petition. The petition is [A CANDIDATE 29 SEEKING NOMINATION BY PETITION SHALL SUBMIT THE INFORMATION 30 REQUIRED UNDER AS 15.25.180(a)(1) - (8) AND (11) - (17) TO THE DIRECTOR 31 IN THE TIME AND MANNER SPECIFIED IN AS 15.25.040. THE FULL
01 PETITION WITH VOTER SIGNATURES SHALL BE] filed with the director by 02 actual physical delivery in person at or before 5:00 p.m., prevailing time, June 1 [ON 03 THE DAY OF THE PRIMARY ELECTION] in the year in which a general election is 04 held for the office, or by actual physical delivery to the director by registered or 05 certified mail return receipt requested which is postmarked at or before 5:00 p.m., 06 prevailing time, June 1 [ON THE DAY OF THE PRIMARY ELECTION] in the year 07 in which a general election is held for the office, and received not more than 15 days 08 after that time. If the postmark is illegible, a dated receipt from the post office where 09 dispatched shall be acceptable as evidence of mailing. If June 1 is a Sunday or 10 holiday, the deadlines for postmarking and receipt of the petition shall be 11 extended 24 hours in each instance. 12 * Sec. 7. AS 15.25.190 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 15.25.190. Placement of names on primary [GENERAL] election 14 ballot. The director shall place the names and the political group affiliation of persons 15 who have been properly nominated by petition on the primary [GENERAL] election 16 ballot. 17 * Sec. 8. AS 15.25.200 is amended to read: 18 Sec. 15.25.200. Withdrawal of candidate's name. If a candidate nominated 19 by petition dies or withdraws 20 (1) after the petition has been filed and at least 48 days before the 21 date of the primary election, the director may not place the name of the candidate 22 on the primary election ballot; or 23 (2) on or after the date of the primary election and 48 days or more 24 before the general election, the director may not place the name of the candidate on 25 the general election ballot. 26 * Sec. 9. AS 15.25 is amended by adding a new section to read: 27 Sec. 15.25.210. Placement of nominee on general election ballot. (a) 28 Except as provided in (b) of this section, of the names of persons that appear on the 29 primary election ballot under AS 15.25.190, the director shall place on the general 30 election ballot the name of the candidate of each political group that receives the 31 greatest number of votes for an office.
01 (b) For the offices of governor and lieutenant governor, the director shall place 02 on the general election ballot the name of the candidate of each political group 03 receiving the greatest number of votes for the office of governor together with the 04 name of the candidate for lieutenant governor who received the greatest number of 05 votes and who is from the same political group as that candidate. However, the 06 director may not place on the general election ballot the name of the candidate of a 07 political group receiving the greatest number of votes for the office of 08 (1) governor unless there is also a candidate for lieutenant governor of 09 that political group; 10 (2) lieutenant governor unless there is also a candidate for governor of 11 that political group. 12 (c) For purposes of placement of the names of nominees on the general 13 election ballot under this section, all candidates who file nominating petitions without 14 designating a political group name under AS 15.25.180(a) shall be treated as 15 candidates of the same political group. 16 * Sec. 10. AS 15.25.014 and 15.25.180(a)(17) are repealed. 17 * Sec. 11. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).