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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 3218
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE SIMMONS.
7052H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal sections 1 15.243, 1 15.449, 1 15.461, 1 15.51 1, and 128.010, RSMo, and to enact in
lieu thereof six new sections relating to the election of presidential electors.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 1 15.243, 1 15.449, 1 15.461, 1 15.51 1, and 128.010, RSMo, are
2 repealed and six new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 1 15.243,
3 1 15.449, 1 15.461, 1 15.51 1, 128.010, and 128.075, to read as follows:
1 15.243. 1. For the purposes of this chapter , the candidates for president and vice
2 president of the United States from any political party or group of petitioners shall be
3 considered one candidate. The names of the candidates for president and vice president from
4 each political party or group of petitioners shall be enclosed in a brace directly to the left of
5 the names in the appropriate column on the of ficial ballot. Directly to the left of each brace
6 shall be printed one square, the sides of which are not less than one-fourth inch in length. The
7 names of candidates for presidential electors shall not be printed on the ballot but shall be
8 filed with the secretary of state in the manner provided in section 1 15.399.
9 2. A vote for any candidate for president and vice president on the official ballot
10 shall be a vote for [ their electors ] each of the candidates for elector filed under section
11 1 15.399 .
12 3. When presidential and vice-presidential candidates are to be elected, the following
13 instruction shall be printed on the of ficial ballot: "A vote for candidates for President and
14 V ice President is a vote for [ their electors ] each of the candidates for elector .".
1 15.449. 1. As soon as the polls close in each polling place using paper ballots, the
2 election judges shall begin to count the votes. If earlier counting is begun pursuant to section
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.
3 1 15.451, the election judges shall complete the count in the manner provided by this section.
4 Once begun, no count shall be adjourned or postponed until all proper votes have been
5 counted.
6 2. One counting judge, closely observed by the other counting judge, shall take the
7 ballots out of the ballot box one at a time and, holding each ballot in such a way that the other
8 counting judge may read it, shall read the name of each candidate properly voted for and the
9 of fice sought by each. As each vote is called out, the recording judges shall each record the
10 vote on a tally sheet. The votes for and against all questions shall likewise be read and
11 recorded. If more than one political subdivision or special district is holding an election on
12 the same day at the same polling place and using separate ballots, the counting judges may
13 separate the ballots of each political subdivision and special district and first read one set,
14 then the next and so on until all proper votes have been counted.
15 3. After the recording of all proper votes, the recording judges shall compare their
16 tallies. When the recording judges agree on the count, they shall sign both of the tally sheets,
17 and one of the recording judges shall announce in a loud voice the total number of votes for
18 each candidate and for and against each question.
19 4. After the announcement of the vote, the election judges shall record the vote totals
20 in the appropriate places on each statement of returns. If any tally sheet or statement of
21 returns contains no heading for any question, the election judges shall write the necessary
22 headings on the tally sheet or statement of returns.
23 5. In the re cording of votes for elector of pr esident and vice pre sident, each
24 candidate for elector shall be reco rded as having recei ved the number of votes record ed
25 as being cast for the associated candidates for pre sident and vice pr esident as filed
26 under section 1 15.399.
1 15.461. 1. The tally book for each polling place using paper ballots shall be in
2 substantially the following form:
3 T ally book for ______ precincts, at the general (special, primary)
4 election held on the ______ day of ______, 20______ AB, CD, EF , and
5 XP judges, and ZR and L T , watchers and BH and SP challengers at this
6 polling place, were sworn as the law directs before beginning their
7 duties.
8 W e hereby certify:
9 The number of ballots received at this polling place is ______;
10 The information on the of ficial ballots received at this polling
11 place is the same as the information on the sample ballots received
12 at this polling place.
13 AB
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14 CD Election Judges
15 EF
16 XP
17 W e hereby certify:
18 The number of ballots cast at this polling place is ______;
19 The number of identification certificates signed at this polling
20 place is ______;
21 The number of rejected ballots at this polling place is ______;
22 The number of spoiled ballots at this polling place is ______;
23 The number of ballots received at this polling place which were
24 not cast at this election is ______;
25 AB
26 CD
27 EF
28 XP
29 2. At each polling place using paper ballots, two tally sheets shall be included in each
30 tally book. The tally sheets shall be in substantially the following form:
31 NAMES OF PERSONS VOTED FOR AND
32 FOR WHA T OFFICE AND THE NUMBER
33 OF VOTES CAST FOR EACH PERSON
34 Of fice Candidates T ally of V otes T otal V otes
35 MC
36 Governor HK
37 EH
38 Representative SS
39 in RK
40 Congress CB
41 VOTES FOR AND AGAINST EACH QUESTION
Question
T ally of votes
FOR
42 T ally of
43 votes
44 AGAINST
T otal of
votes FOR T otal of votes
AGAINST
45 1. T o_____
46 ______
47 ______
48 2. T o_____
49 ______
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50 _______________ _______________
51 Signature of Recording Signature of Recording
52 Judge Judge
53 (of dif ferent political
54 party)
55 3. At each polling place using paper ballots, two statements of returns shall be
56 provided to the election judges. The statements of returns shall be in substantially the
57 following form:
58 W e hereby certify that MC had ______ votes for governor , and HK had
59 ______ votes for governor and EH had ______ votes for governor; that
60 SS had ______ votes for representative in Congress, etc.
61 W e hereby certify that proposition number 1 received ______ votes for
62 and ______ votes against; constitutional amendment number 1
63 received ______ votes for and ______ votes against, etc.
64 W e, the duly qualified and acting Judges of the polling place for _____
65 _ precincts, at the general (special, primary) election held on the _____
66 _ of ______, 20______, in ______ county (City of St. Louis, Kansas
67 City), Missouri do hereby certify that the foregoing is a full and
68 accurate return of all votes cast at this polling place for all candidates
69 and for and against all questions.
70 AB
71 CD Election Judges
72 EF
73 XP
74 4. In years in which electors for pr esident and vice presiden t are to be elected,
75 the tally sheets in subsection 2 of this section and statement of r eturns in subsection 3 of
76 this section shall record for each candidate for elector the number of votes record ed as
77 cast for the associated candidates for pr esident and vice pr esident as filed under section
78 1 15.399.
1 15.51 1. 1. The secretary of state shall convene the board of state canvassers to total
2 the abstracts of each primary election and the board shall, not later than two weeks after
3 receiving all required abstracts from the primary election, issue a statement announcing the
4 results of the primary election for federal officers, governor , lieutenant governor , state
5 senators and representatives, circuit judges, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer
6 and state auditor .
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7 2. The secretary of state shall convene the board of state canvassers to total the
8 abstracts of each general election and the board shall, not later than the second T uesday in
9 December following the general election, issue a statement announcing the results of the
10 general election for federal of ficers, governor , lieutenant governor , state senators and
11 representatives, circuit judges, appellate and circuit judges subject to the provisions of Article
12 V , Section 25 of the State Constitution, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer and
13 state auditor .
14 3. The secretary of state shall convene the board of state canvassers to total the
15 abstracts of each special election at which the name of a candidate for nomination or election
16 to the of fice of United States senator , representative in Congress, governor , lieutenant
17 governor , state senator , state representative, circuit judge not subject to the provisions of
18 Article V , Section 25 of the State Constitution, secretary of state, attorney general, state
19 treasurer or state auditor , or at which an initiative, referendum or constitutional amendment
20 appears on the ballot, and the board shall, not later than two weeks after receiving all required
21 abstracts from the election, issue a statement announcing the results of the election for such
22 of fice or on such question.
23 4. In issuing a statement announcing the res ults of an election for elector of
24 pr esident and vice presiden t of the United States, the board shall announce each
25 candidate for elector as receivi ng a number of votes equal to those cast on the official
26 ballot for the elector's associated candidates for pr esident and vice pre sident as filed
27 under section 1 15.399. The board shall announce candidates for preside nt and vice
28 pr esident as recei ving a vote total equal to the aggr egate votes of all candidates for
29 elector associated with pr esident and vice pr esident as filed under section 1 15.399. No
30 other vote total shall be announced by the board for any candidate for pr esident and
31 vice pr esident.
128.010. Hereafter , at all elections held in this state for the of fices of president and
2 vice president of the United States and for elector of pr esident and vice pr esident , the
3 electoral district shall be the same as the congressional districts into which the state shall be
4 divided, and the same number of electors as there may be districts shall be chosen by the
5 qualified voters, one of whom shall be a resident of each district; and in addition thereto, two
6 electors shall be chosen [ by the state at lar ge ] irr espective of district r esidence .
128.075. As soon as practicable and no later than six days before the date of the
2 meeting of electors, the governor shall send a certificate of ascertainment of
3 appointment of electors to the Archi vist of the United States. The certificate shall
4 state the names of the electors and the number of votes each candidate for elector
5 r eceived under section 1 15.243. The governor shall aggr egate the votes recei ved by each
6 candidate for elector with each other candidate for elector nominated by the same party
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7 and re port of the certificate of ascertainment the aggreg ate total of each gr oup of
8 electors as the total number of votes receiv ed by each presiden tial and vice presid ential
9 candidate. No other vote total for pr esident and vice pr esident shall be r eported on the
10 certificate of ascertainment.
✔
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