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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1987
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE HINMAN.
4579H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 1 15.127, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the
deadline for filing declarations of candidacy .
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 1 15.127, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as section 1 15.127, to read as follows:
1 15.127. 1. Except as provided in subsection 4 of this section, upon receipt of notice
2 of a special election to fill a vacancy submitted pursuant to subsection 2 of section 1 15.125,
3 the election authority shall cause legal notice of the special election to be published in a
4 newspaper of general circulation in its jurisdiction. The notice shall include the name of the
5 of ficer or agency calling the election, the date and time of the election, the name of the of fice
6 to be filled and the date by which candidates must be selected or filed for the office. W ithin
7 one week prior to each special election to fill a vacancy held in its jurisdiction, the election
8 authority shall cause legal notice of the election to be published in two newspapers of
9 dif ferent political faith and general circulation in the jurisdiction. The legal notice shall
10 include the date and time of the election, the name of the of ficer or agency calling the election
11 and a sample ballot. If there is only one newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction,
12 the notice shall be published in the newspaper within one week prior to the election. If there
13 are two or more newspapers of general circulation in the jurisdiction, but no two of opposite
14 political faith, the notice shall be published in any two of the newspapers within one week
15 prior to the election.
16 2. Except as provided in subsections 1 and 4 of this section and in sections 1 15.521,
17 1 15.549 and 1 15.593, the election authority shall cause legal notice of each election held in its
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
18 jurisdiction to be published. The notice shall be published in two newspapers of dif ferent
19 political faith and qualified pursuant to chapter 493 which are published within the bounds of
20 the area holding the election. If there is only one so-qualified newspaper , then notice shall be
21 published in only one newspaper . If there is no newspaper published within the bounds of the
22 election area, then the notice shall be published in two qualified newspapers of dif ferent
23 political faith serving the area. Notice shall be published twice, the first publication occurring
24 in the second week prior to the election, and the second publication occurring within one
25 week prior to the election. Each such legal notice shall include the date and time of the
26 election, the name of the of ficer or agency calling the election and a sample ballot; and, unless
27 notice has been given as provided by section 1 15.129, the second publication of notice of the
28 election shall include the location of polling places. The election authority may provide any
29 additional notice of the election it deems desirable.
30 3. The election authority shall print the of ficial ballot as the same appears on the
31 sample ballot, and no candidate's name or ballot issue which appears on the sample ballot or
32 of ficial printed ballot shall be stricken or removed from the ballot except on death of a
33 candidate or by court order , but in no event shall a candidate or issue be stricken or removed
34 from the ballot less than eight weeks before the date of the election.
35 4. In lieu of causing legal notice to be published in accordance with any of the
36 provisions of this chapter , the election authority in jurisdictions which have less than seven
37 hundred fifty registered voters and in which no newspaper qualified pursuant to chapter 493 is
38 published, may cause legal notice to be mailed during the second week prior to the election,
39 by first class mail, to each registered voter at the voter's voting address. All such legal notices
40 shall include the date and time of the election, the location of the polling place, the name of
41 the of ficer or agency calling the election and a sample ballot.
42 5. If the opening date for filing a declaration of candidacy for any of fice in a political
43 subdivision or special district is not required by law or charter , the opening filing date shall be
44 8:00 a.m., the [ seventeenth ] sixteenth T uesday prior to the election. If the closing date for
45 filing a declaration of candidacy for any of fice in a political subdivision or special district is
46 not required by law or charter , the closing filing date shall be 5:00 p.m., the [ fourteenth ]
47 thirteenth T uesday prior to the election or , if the thirteenth T uesday prior to the election is
48 a state or federal holiday , the closing filing date shall be 5:00 p.m. on the next day that is
49 not a state or federal holiday . The political subdivision or special district calling an election
50 shall, before the [ seventeenth ] sixteenth T uesday[ , ] prior to any election at which of fices are
51 to be filled, notify the general public of the opening filing date, the of fice or of fices to be
52 filled, the proper place for filing and the closing filing date of the election. Such notification
53 may be accomplished by legal notice published in at least one newspaper of general
54 circulation in the political subdivision or special district.
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55 6. Except as provided for in sections 1 15.247 and 1 15.359, if there is no additional
56 cost for the printing or reprinting of ballots or if the candidate agrees to pay any printing or
57 reprinting costs, a candidate who has filed for an of fice or who has been duly nominated for
58 an of fice may , at any time after the certification of the notice of election required in
59 subsection 1 of section 1 15.125 but no later than 5:00 p.m. on the eighth T uesday before the
60 election, withdraw as a candidate pursuant to a court order , which, except for good cause
61 shown by the election authority in opposition thereto, shall be freely given upon application
62 by the candidate to the circuit court of the area of such candidate's residence.
✔
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