08 LC 28
3972
House
Bill 1098
By:
Representative Reese of the
98th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to primaries and elections generally, so as to require election superintendents
to provide notice to the Secretary of State of certain primaries and elections;
to revise certain duties of election superintendents; to provide that certain
returns from primaries and elections shall be provided to the Secretary of
State; to provide that county and municipal election superintendents complete,
file, and transmit certain returns; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to primaries
and elections generally, is amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section
21-2-9, relating to date of election for offices, as follows:
"(b)
All general municipal elections to fill municipal offices shall be held on the
Tuesday next following the first Monday in November in each odd-numbered year.
Public notice of such elections shall be published by the governing authority of
the municipality in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality at
least 30 days prior to the elections.
In addition,
the municipality shall immediately transmit a copy of such notice to the
Secretary of State."
SECTION
2.
Said
chapter is further amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 21-2-45.1,
relating to special elections on bonded debt, as follows:
"(b)
The date of a municipal bond election shall be specified by the governing
authority of the municipality. Such date shall not be less than 30 days after
call of such bond election.
The
municipality shall immediately transmit a copy of such notice to the Secretary
of State."
SECTION
3.
Said
chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-70, relating to powers
and duties of superintendents, as follows:
"21-2-70.
Each
superintendent within his or her county or municipality shall exercise all the
powers granted to him or her by this chapter and shall perform all the duties
imposed upon him or her by this chapter, which shall include the
following:
(1)
To receive and act upon all petitions presented by electors, the board of
registrars, or the county executive committee of a political party for the
division, redivision, alteration, change, or consolidation of
precincts;
(2)
To receive and determine the sufficiency of nomination petitions of candidates
filing notice of their candidacy with him or her in accordance with this
chapter;
(3)
To prepare and publish, in the manner provided by this chapter, all notices and
advertisements, in connection with the conduct of elections, which may be
required by law, and to transmit immediately to the Secretary of State a copy of
any publication in which a call for a special primary, election, or runoff is
issued;
(4)
To select and equip polling places for use in primaries and elections in
accordance with this chapter;
(5)
To purchase, except voting machines, preserve, store, and maintain election
equipment of all kinds, including voting booths and ballot boxes and to procure
ballots and all other supplies for primaries and elections;
(6)
To appoint poll officers and other officers to serve in primaries and elections
in accordance with this chapter;
(7)
To make and issue such rules, regulations, and instructions, consistent with
law, including the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Election
Board, as he or she may deem necessary for the guidance of poll officers,
custodians, and electors in primaries and elections;
(8)
To instruct poll officers and others in their duties, calling them together in
meetings whenever deemed advisable, and to inspect systematically and thoroughly
the conduct of primaries and elections in the several precincts of his or her
county to the end that primaries and elections may be honestly, efficiently, and
uniformly conducted;
(9)
To receive from poll officers the returns of all primaries and elections, to
canvass and compute the same, and to
certify, as
soon as practicable following the primary and
election, the results thereof to such
authorities as may be prescribed by law;
(10)
To announce publicly, by posting in his or her office, the results of all
primaries and elections held in his or her county
or
municipality;
(11)
In any general election at which a proposal to amend the Constitution or to
provide for a new Constitution is submitted to the electors for ratification,
the election superintendent shall provide copies of the summary of such proposal
prepared pursuant to Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution as
provided in this paragraph. A reasonable number of copies of such summary shall
be conspicuously available in each polling place;
(12)
To prepare annually a budget estimate of his or her expenses under this chapter,
in which shall be set forth an itemized list of expenditures for the preceding
two years and an itemized estimate of the amount of money necessary to be
appropriated for the ensuing year and to submit the same at the time and in the
manner and form other budget estimates of his or her county
or
municipality are now or may hereafter be
required to be filed;
(13)
To conduct all elections in such manner as to guarantee the secrecy of the
ballot and to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by
law;
(14)
To become certified by satisfactorily completing a certification program
approved by
the Secretary of State no later than January 1, 2007. Such program may include
instruction on, and may require the superintendent to demonstrate proficiency
in, the operation of the state´s direct recording electronic voting
equipment and in state and federal law and procedures related to elections. In
the case of boards of elections or boards of elections and registration, this
requirement may be satisfied either by the certification of the members of the
board or the board´s designee
as set forth
in Code Section 21-2-101; and
(15)
To take an oath in the following form:
I,
____________________________, do swear (or affirm) that I will as superintendent
duly attend the ensuing election (or primary) during the continuance thereof,
that I will to the best of my ability prevent any fraud, deceit, or abuse in
carrying on the same, that I will make a true and perfect return of the said
election (or primary), and that I will at all times truly, impartially, and
faithfully perform my duties in accordance with Georgia laws to the best of my
judgment and ability."
SECTION
4.
Said
chapter is further amended by revising subsection (k) of Code Section 21-2-493,
relating to computation, canvassing, and tabulation of returns, as
follows:
"(k)
As the returns from each precinct are read, computed, and found to be correct or
corrected as aforesaid, they shall be recorded on the blanks prepared for the
purpose until all the returns from the various precincts which are entitled to
be counted shall have been duly recorded; then they shall be added together,
announced, and attested by the assistants who made and computed the entries
respectively and shall be signed by the superintendent. The consolidated
returns shall then be certified by the superintendent in the manner required by
this chapter. Such returns shall be certified by the superintendent not later
than 5:00 P.M. on the seventh day following the date on which such election was
held and such
returns shall be immediately transmitted to the Secretary of
State."
SECTION
5.
Said
chapter is further amended by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 21-2-496,
relating to preparation and filing by superintendent of four copies of
consolidated return of primary, as follows:
"(a)
Each county
and municipal superintendent shall prepare
four copies of the consolidated return of the primary to be certified by the
superintendent on forms furnished by the Secretary of State, such consolidated
returns to be filed immediately upon certification as follows:
(1)
One copy to be posted at the county courthouse
or, in the
case of a municipal election, at the city
hall for the information of the public;
(2)
One copy to be filed in the superintendent´s office;
(3)
One copy to be forwarded to the Secretary of State together with a copy of each
precinct return, the numbered list of voters of each precinct, and the returns
and the numbered list of voters for absentee electors; and
(4)
One copy to be sealed and filed with the clerk of the superior
court, in the
case of a county election, or with the city clerk, in the case of a municipal
election, as required by Code Section
21-2-500."
SECTION
6.
Said
chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-497, relating to
preparation and filing by superintendent of four copies of consolidated return
of elections, as follows:
"21-2-497.
Each
county and
municipal superintendent shall prepare
four copies of the consolidated return of the election to be certified by the
superintendent on forms furnished by the Secretary of State, such consolidated
returns to be filed immediately upon certification as follows:
(1)
One copy to be posted at the county courthouse
or, in the
case of a municipal election, at the city
hall for the information of the
public;
(2)
One copy to be filed and recorded as a permanent record in the minutes of the
superintendent´s office;
(3)
One copy to be sealed and filed with the clerk of the superior
court, in the
case of a county election, or with the city clerk, in the case of a municipal
election, as required by Code Section
21-2-500; and
(4)
One copy to be returned
as
follows
immediately to
the Secretary of State unless required as
follows:
(A)
In the case of election of federal and state officers, a separate return showing
totals of the votes cast for each of such officers respectively shall be
forwarded by the superintendent to the Secretary of State on forms furnished by
the Secretary of State;
(B)
In the case of elections for any county officer or other officer required by law
to be commissioned by the Governor in any of the several counties of this state,
it shall be the duty of the superintendent to transmit immediately to the
Secretary of State a certified copy of the returns of all such
offices;
(C)
(B)
In the case of referendum elections provided for by an Act of the General
Assembly, the returns shall immediately be certified by the authority holding
such election to the Secretary of State, along with the precinct returns and
numbered list of voters for each precinct. In addition thereto, the official
citation of the Act involved and the purpose of such election shall be sent to
the Secretary of State at the same time. The Secretary of State shall maintain
a permanent record of such certifications;
(D)
(C)
In the case of elections on constitutional amendments, the returns shall be
certified immediately to the Secretary of State. Upon receiving the certified
returns from the various superintendents, the Secretary of State shall
immediately proceed to canvass and tabulate the votes cast on such amendments
and certify the results to the Governor;
or
and
(E)
(D)
In the case of election for presidential electors, a separate return shall be
prepared by each superintendent and certified immediately to the Secretary of
State."
SECTION
7.
Said
chapter is further amended by revising subsection (c) of Code Section 21-2-501,
relating to number of votes required for election, as follows:
"(c)
In instances in which no municipal candidate receives a majority of the votes
cast and the municipal charter or ordinances do not provide for nomination or
election by a plurality vote, a run-off primary or election shall be held
between the candidates receiving the two highest numbers of votes. Such runoff
shall be held on the twenty-eighth day after the day of holding the first
primary or election, unless such run-off date is postponed by court order. Only
the electors entitled to vote in the first primary or election shall be entitled
to vote in any run-off primary or election resulting therefrom; provided,
however, that no elector shall vote in a run-off primary in violation of Code
Section 21-2-216. The run-off primary or election shall be a continuation of
the first primary or election, and only those votes cast for the candidates
receiving the two highest numbers of votes in the first primary or election
shall be counted. No write-in votes may be cast in such a primary, run-off
primary, or run-off election. If any candidate eligible to be in a runoff
withdraws, dies, or is found to be ineligible, the remaining candidates
receiving the two highest numbers of votes shall be the candidates in such
runoff. The municipal candidate receiving the highest number of the votes cast
in such run-off primary or run-off election to fill the nomination or public
office sought shall be declared the winner.
The
municipality shall give written notice to the Secretary of State of such runoff
as soon as such municipality certifies the preceding primary, special primary,
election, or special
election."
SECTION
8.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.