 |
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
write-in candidates; filings; ballots
Purpose
Requires a write-in candidate for an election to file a nomination paper by 5:00 p.m. on the 70th, rather than 40th, day before the election and modifies the number of blank lines for write-in candidates that are included on the official printed ballot.
Background
A person seeking write-in candidacy for an elective office in any election must be a qualified elector of the county or district the person proposes to represent and must be a resident of the county or district for at least 120 days before the date of the election. The person seeking write-in candidacy must file a nomination paper that is signed by the person, contains the person's actual residence address and is filed within the prescribed timeframe, including: 1) no earlier than 150 days before the election and no later than 5:00 p.m. on the 40th day before the election; 2) no later than 5:00 p.m. on the 5th day before an election at which a vacancy occurs due to the voluntary or involuntary withdrawal of a candidate following the printing of official ballots; and 3) no later than 5:00 p.m. on the 106th day before an election that may be cancelled due to lack of competing candidates (A.R.S. § 16-312).
The official ballot is divided into two sections. Section one is the partisan ballot which lists the names of the political party candidates for each office to be filled. Under section one of the ballot there must be as many blank lines below the name of the last named candidate for each office as there are offices of the same title to be filled, as well as a place for the voter to put a mark. On the blank line the voter may write the name of any person for whom the voter wishes to vote, but whose name is not printed on the ballot. The voter must put a mark in the specified area next to the write-in candidate's name to designate the voter's choice in the same manner as provided for printed candidate names (A.R.S. § 16-502).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
2. Requires the partisan section of the official ballot to include as many blank lines for write in candidates as there are qualified write-in candidates for each office plus one additional blank line, not exceeding the number of seats for the office.
3. Stipulates that, if there are no qualified write-in candidates for a partisan office, one blank line must be included for that office with a place for the voter to put a mark.
4. Makes technical changes.
5. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
FMAE 1/29/25 DP 7-0-0-0
3rd Read 2/13/25 53-0-7
Prepared by Senate Research
March 7, 2025
ZD/KS/ci