Page 1,
between lines 1 and 2, insert:
"Section 1. Section 16-314, Arizona Revised Statutes,
is amended to read:
START_STATUTE16-314. Filing
and form of nomination petitions; definition
A. Any
person desiring to become a candidate at any election and to have the person's
name printed on the official ballot shall file, not less than one hundred
twenty nor more than one hundred fifty days before the primary election and
with the same officer as provided by section 16-311, a nomination
petition in addition to the nomination paper required.
B. For
the purposes of this title, "nomination petition" means the form or
forms used for obtaining the required number of signatures of qualified
electors, which is circulated by or on behalf of the person wishing to become a
candidate for a political office.
C. Nomination
petitions shall be captioned "partisan nomination petition" or
"nonpartisan nomination petition", followed by the language of the
petition in substantially the following form:
Partisan Nomination Petition
If
the circulator does not read the following aloud to you or does not give you
sufficient time to read it, your signature on this petition is invalid.
I, the
undersigned, a qualified elector of the county of ______________, state of
Arizona, and of (here name political division or district from which the
nomination is sought) and a member of the _______________ party or a person who
is registered as no party preference or independent as the party preference or
who is registered with a political party that is not qualified for
representation on the ballot, hereby nominate ___________ who resides at
_____________ in the county of ____________ for the party nomination for the
office of _______________ to be voted at the primary election to be held
_______________ as representing the principles of such party, and I hereby
declare that I am qualified to vote for this office and that I have not signed,
and will not sign, any nomination petition for more persons than the number of
candidates necessary to fill such office at the next ensuing
election. I further declare that if I choose to use a post office
box address on this petition, my residence address has not changed since I last
reported it to the county recorder for purposes of updating my voter
registration file.
Nonpartisan Nomination Petition
If
the circulator does not read the following aloud to you or does not give you
sufficient time to read it, your signature on this petition is invalid.
I, the
undersigned, a qualified elector of the county of _______________, state of
Arizona, and of (here name political division or district from which the
nomination is sought) hereby nominate _______________ who resides at
_______________ in the county of _______________ for the office of
______________ to be voted at the _______________ election to be held
_______________, and hereby declare that I am qualified to vote for this office
and that I have not signed and will not sign any nomination petitions for more
persons than the number of candidates necessary to fill such office at the next
ensuing election. I further declare that if I choose to use a post office box
address on this petition, my residence address has not changed since I last
reported it to the county recorder for purposes of updating my voter
registration file.
D. A
circulator shall either read the petition language in subsection C of this
section aloud to each person signing before that person signs or shall allow
the person sufficient time to read the petition language before the person
signs. The circulator shall inform the person that reading the petition
language is required so that the person can understand the petition. Each
person signing shall affirm that the person has heard and understood or read
and understood the petition language before signing the petition. For any
person who signs without either hearing or reading the petition language, the
circulator shall DRAW a line through the person's signature and the signature
is void and shall not be counted.
D. e. The nomination
petition of a person seeking to fill an unexpired vacant term for any public
office shall designate the expiration date of the term following the name of
the office being sought. END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 16-315, Arizona Revised Statutes,
is amended to read:
START_STATUTE16-315. Form
of petitions; registration of circulators
A. The
nomination petitions shall be in substantially the following form:
1. Petitions
shall be on paper eleven inches wide and eight and one-half inches long.
2. Petitions
shall be headed by a caption stating the purpose of the petition, followed by
the body of the petition stating the intent of the petitioners.
3. There
shall be ten lines spaced one-half of an inch apart and consecutively numbered
one through ten.
4. The
signature portion of the petition shall be divided into columns headed by the
following titles:
(a) Signature.
(b) Printed
name.
(c) Actual
residence address, description of place of residence or Arizona post office box
address, city or town.
(d) Date
of signing.
5. A
photograph of the candidate may appear on the nomination petition.
B. The
following shall appear on the petition:
Instructions for Circulators
1. All
petitions shall be signed by circulator.
2. Circulator
is not required to be a resident of this state but otherwise must be qualified to
register to vote in this state and, if not a resident of this state, shall
register as a circulator with the secretary of state.
3. Circulator's
name shall be typed or printed under the circulator's signature.
4. Circulator's
actual residence address or, if no street address, a description of residence
location shall be included on the petition.
5. Circulators
must read aloud the petition language or must give signers sufficient time to
read it or the signature on the petition is invalid.
C. The
secretary of state shall prepare sample nomination petition forms and
distribute the forms to all election officers.
D. Circulators
who are not residents of this state must be registered as circulators with the
secretary of state before circulating petitions. The secretary of state shall
provide for a method of receiving service of process for those petition
circulators who register pursuant to this subsection. The secretary
of state shall establish in the instructions and procedures manual issued
pursuant to section 16-452 a procedure for registering circulators and
receiving service of process.
E. The
secretary of state may authorize for statewide and legislative offices the
creation, use and submission of petitions prescribed by this section in
electronic form if those petitions provide for an appropriate method to verify
signatures of petition circulators and signers. The secretary of
state may require use of a unique marking system for petition pages, including
a bar code, a quick response code or another similar marking system. END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Section 16-321, Arizona Revised Statutes,
is amended to read:
START_STATUTE16-321. Signing
and certification of nomination petition; definition
A. Each
signer of a nomination petition shall sign only one petition for the same
office unless more than one candidate is to be elected to such office, and in
that case not more than the number of nomination petitions equal to the number
of candidates to be elected to the office. A signature shall not be counted on
a nomination petition unless the signature is on a sheet bearing the form
prescribed by section 16-314.
B. For
the purposes of petitions filed pursuant to sections 16-312, 16-313,
16-314 and 16-341, each signer of a nomination petition shall be a
voter who at the time of signing is a registered voter in the electoral
district of the office the candidate is seeking.
C. If
an elector signs more nomination petitions than permitted by subsection A of
this section, the earlier signatures of the elector are deemed valid, as
determined by the date of the signature as shown on the petitions. If the
signatures by the elector are dated on the same day, all signatures by that
elector on that day are deemed invalid. Any signature by that elector on a
nomination petition on or after the date of the last otherwise valid signature
is deemed invalid and shall not be counted.
D. The
person before whom the signatures were written on the signature sheet is not
required to be a resident of this state but otherwise shall be qualified to
register to vote in this state pursuant to section 16-101 and, if not a
resident of this state, shall register as a circulator with the secretary of
state. A circulator shall verify that each of the names on the petition was
signed in his presence on the date indicated, and that in his belief each
signer was a qualified elector who resides at the address given as the signer's
residence on the date indicated and, if for a partisan election, that each
signer is a qualified signer. The way the name appears on the petition shall
be the name used in determining the validity of the name for any legal purpose
pursuant to the election laws of this state. Signature and handwriting
comparisons may be made.
E. A
person who signs a nominating petition must use that person's actual residence
address unless there is no actual residence address assigned by an official
governmental entity or the person's actual residence is protected pursuant to
section 16-153. The signature of a person who signs a nominating
petition and who uses only a description of the place of residence or an
Arizona post office box address is valid if the person is otherwise properly
registered to vote, has not moved since registering to vote and is eligible to
sign the nominating petition.
F. A
circulator shall either read the petition language prescribed by section
16-314, subsection C aloud to each person signing before that person signs or
shall allow the person sufficient time to read the petition language before the
person signs. The circulator shall inform the person that reading the petition
language is required so that the person can understand the petition. Each person
signing shall affirm that the person has heard and understood or read and
understood the petition language before signing the petition. For any person
who signs without either hearing or reading the petition language, the
circulator shall DRAW a line through the person's signature and the signature
is void and shall not be counted.
F. g. For the purposes of
this article, "qualified signer" means any of the following:
1. A
qualified elector who is a registered member of the party from which the candidate
is seeking nomination.
2. A
qualified elector who is a registered member of a political party that is not
entitled to continued representation on the ballot pursuant to section 16-804.
3. A
qualified elector who is registered as independent or no party preferred."END_STATUTE
Renumber to
conform
Amend title to conform
Bill
Number: S.B. 1531