As Introduced

133rd General Assembly

Regular Session S. B. No. 42

2019-2020

A BILL

To amend sections 3505.03, 3505.04, and 3513.13 of the Revised Code to require uncontested races to appear at the end of an election ballot.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 3505.03, 3505.04, and 3513.13 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 3505.03. On the office type ballot shall be printed the names of all candidates for election to offices, except judicial offices, who were nominated at the most recent primary election as candidates of a political party or who were nominated in accordance with section 3513.02 of the Revised Code, and the names of all candidates for election to offices who were nominated by nominating petitions, except candidates for judicial offices, for member of the state board of education, for member of a board of education, for municipal offices, and for township offices.

The face of the ballot below the stub shall be substantially in the following form:

"OFFICIAL OFFICE TYPE BALLOT

(A) To vote for a candidate record your vote in the manner provided next to the name of such candidate.

(B) If you tear, soil, deface, or erroneously mark this ballot, return it to the precinct election officers or, if you cannot return it, notify the precinct election officers, and obtain another ballot."

The order in which the offices shall be listed on the ballot shall be prescribed by, and certified to each board of elections by, the secretary of state~~; provided that for~~ . Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the order for state, district, and county offices ~~the order~~ from top to bottom shall be as follows: governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, auditor of state, secretary of state, treasurer of state, United States senator, representative to congress, state senator, state representative, county commissioner, county auditor, prosecuting attorney, clerk of the court of common pleas, sheriff, county recorder, county treasurer, county engineer, and coroner. The offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall be printed on the ballot in a manner that requires a voter to cast one vote jointly for the candidates who have been nominated by the same political party or petition. Offices for which the number of candidates is the same as the number of candidates to be elected shall be listed at the end of the ballot in the order listed above.

The names of all candidates for an office shall be arranged in a group under the title of that office, and, except for absentee ballots or when the number of candidates for a particular office is the same as the number of candidates to be elected for that office, shall be rotated from one precinct to another. On absentee ballots, the names of all candidates for an office shall be arranged in a group under the title of that office and shall be so alternated that each name shall appear, insofar as may be reasonably possible, substantially an equal number of times at the beginning, at the end, and in each intermediate place, if any, of the group in which such name belongs, unless the number of candidates for a particular office is the same as the number of candidates to be elected for that office.

The method of printing the ballots to meet the rotation requirement of this section shall be as follows: the least common multiple of the number of names in each of the several groups of candidates shall be used, and the number of changes made in the printer's forms in printing the ballots shall correspond with that multiple. The board of elections shall number all precincts in regular serial sequence. In the first precinct, the names of the candidates in each group shall be listed in alphabetical order. In each succeeding precinct, the name in each group that is listed first in the preceding precinct shall be listed last, and the name of each candidate shall be moved up one place. In each precinct using paper ballots, the printed ballots shall then be assembled in tablets.

Under the name of each candidate nominated at a primary election, nominated by petition under section 3517.012 of the Revised Code, or certified by a party committee to fill a vacancy under section 3513.31 of the Revised Code shall be printed, in less prominent type face than that in which the candidate's name is printed, the name of the political party by which the candidate was nominated or certified. Under the name of each candidate appearing on the ballot who filed a nominating petition and requested a ballot designation as a nonparty candidate under section 3513.257 of the Revised Code shall be printed, in less prominent type face than that in which the candidate's name is printed, the designation of "nonparty candidate." Under the name of each candidate appearing on the ballot who filed a nominating petition and requested a ballot designation as an other-party candidate under section 3513.257 of the Revised Code shall be printed, in less prominent type face than that in which the candidate's name is printed, the designation of "other-party candidate." No designation shall appear under the name of a candidate appearing on the ballot who filed a nominating petition and requested that no ballot designation appear under the candidate's name under section 3513.257 of the Revised Code, or who filed a nominating petition and failed to request a ballot designation either as a nonparty candidate or as an other-party candidate under that section.

Except as provided in this section, no words, designations, or emblems descriptive of a candidate or the candidate's political affiliation, or indicative of the method by which the candidate was nominated or certified, shall be printed under or after a candidate's name that is printed on the ballot.

Sec. 3505.04. On the nonpartisan ballot shall be printed the names of all nonpartisan candidates for election to judicial office, office of member of the state board of education, office of member of a board of education, municipal or township offices for municipal corporations and townships in which primary elections are not held for nomination of candidates by political parties, and municipal offices of municipal corporations having charters which provide for separate ballots for elections for such municipal offices.

Such ballots shall have printed across the top, and below the stubs, "Official Nonpartisan Ballot."

The order in which the offices are listed on the ballot shall be prescribed by, and certified to each board of elections by, the secretary of state~~; provided that~~ . Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the office of member of the state board of education shall be listed first on the ballot, then state, district, and county judicial offices shall be listed on the ballot in such order, followed by municipal and township offices, and by offices of member of a board of education, in the order stated. Offices for which the number of candidates is the same as the number of candidates to be elected shall be listed at the end of the ballot in the order listed above.

Within the rectangular space within which the title of each judicial office is printed on the ballot and immediately below such title shall be printed the date of the commencement of the term of the office, if a full term, as follows: "Full term commencing .......(Date).......," or the date of the end of the term of the office, if an unexpired term, as follows: "Unexpired term ending .......(Date)........"

The secretary of state shall prescribe the information and directions to the voter to be printed on the ballot within the rectangular space in which the title of office of member of the state board of education appears.

Within the rectangular space within which the title of each office for member of a board of education is printed on the ballot shall be printed "For Member of Board of Education," and the number to be elected, directions to the voter as to voting for one, two, or more, and, if the office to be voted for is member of a board of education of a city school district, words shall be printed in said space on the ballot to indicate whether candidates are to be elected from subdistricts or at large.

The names of all nonpartisan candidates for an office shall be arranged in a group under the title of that office, and shall be rotated and printed on the ballot as provided in section 3505.03 of the Revised Code.

No name or designation of any political party nor any words, designations, or emblems descriptive of a candidate or ~~his~~ the candidate's political affiliation, or indicative of the method by which such candidate was nominated or certified, shall be printed under or after any nonpartisan candidate's name which is printed on the ballot.

Sec. 3513.13. Separate primary election ballots shall be provided by the board of elections for each political party having candidates for nomination or election in a primary election. Section 3505.08 of the Revised Code governing the kind of paper, the kind of ink, and the size and style of type to be used in the printing of ballots for general elections shall apply in the printing of ballots for primary elections.

Primary election ballots shall have printed on the back thereof "Official ............ (name of party) .......... primary ballot," the date of the election, and the facsimile signatures of the members of the board.

Such ballots shall have stubs attached at the top thereof as required on ballots for general elections.

On the back of every ballot used there shall be a solid black line printed opposite the blank rectangular space that is used to mark the choice of the voter. This line shall be printed wide enough so that the mark in the blank rectangular space will not be visible from the back side of the ballot.

Such ballots shall have printed at the top thereof and below the stubs "Official .......... (name of party) ........... primary ballot" and instructions to the voter to the effect that to vote for a candidate the voter shall record the vote in the manner provided on the ballot next to the name of such candidate, except as provided in section 3513.151 of the Revised Code, and that ~~if he~~ a voter who tears, soils, defaces, or erroneously marks the ballot he may return it to the precinct election officers and obtain another ballot.

Except as provided in section 3513.151 of the Revised Code, primary election ballots shall contain the names of all persons whose declarations of candidacy and petitions have been determined to be valid. The name of each candidate for nomination for, or election to, an office or position shall be printed in an enclosed rectangular space at the left of which an enclosed blank rectangular space shall be provided. The names of candidates shall be printed on the ballot immediately below the title of the office or position for nomination or election to which the candidate seeks nomination or election. The order in which offices and positions shall be listed on the ballot shall be prescribed by and shall be certified to each board by the secretary of state, and shall be the same, to the extent the secretary of state deems practicable, as is provided for the listing of offices on general election ballots. Except as otherwise provided in section 3513.02 of the Revised Code, offices for which the number of candidates for the nomination of a political party is the same as the number of candidates to be nominated shall be listed at the end of the ballot in the order prescribed by the secretary of state.

Section 2. That existing sections 3505.03, 3505.04, and 3513.13 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.