37-5-9 - Nominating petition; election; runoff election.
§ 37-5-9. Nominating petition; election; runoff election.
[Until the date Section 1, Chapter 470, Laws of 2009, is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended, this section shall read as follows:]
The name of any qualified elector who is a candidate for the county board of education shall be placed on the ballot used in the general elections by the county election commissioners, provided that the candidate files with the county election commissioners, not more than ninety (90) days and not less than sixty (60) days prior to the date of such general election, a petition of nomination signed by not less than fifty (50) qualified electors of the county residing within each supervisors district. Where there are less than one hundred (100) qualified electors in said supervisors district, it shall only be required that said petition of nomination be signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of such supervisors district. The candidate in each supervisors district who receives the highest number of votes cast in the district shall be declared elected.
When any member of the county board of education is to be elected from the county at large under the provisions of this chapter, then the petition required by the preceding paragraph hereof shall be signed by the required number of qualified electors residing in any part of the county outside of the territory embraced within a municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes cast in the election shall be declared elected.
In no case shall any qualified elector residing within a municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district be eligible to sign a petition of nomination for any candidate for the county board of education under any of the provisions of this section.
[From and after the date Section 1, Chapter 470, Laws of 2009, is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended, this section shall read as follows:]
(1) The name of any qualified elector who is a candidate for the county board of education shall be placed on the ballot used in the general elections by the county election commissioners, provided that the candidate files with the county election commissioners, not more than ninety (90) days and not less than sixty (60) days prior to the date of such general election, a petition of nomination signed by not less than fifty (50) qualified electors of the county residing within each supervisors district. Where there are less than one hundred (100) qualified electors in the supervisors district, it shall only be required that the petition of nomination be signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of such supervisors district. The candidate in each supervisors district who receives a majority of the votes cast in the district must be declared elected. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast in the general election, then the two (2) candidates who receive the highest number of votes cast in the district shall have their names submitted as candidates in a runoff election three (3) weeks after the date of the general election, and the candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast in the district in the runoff election must be declared elected.
(2) When any member of the county board of education is to be elected from the county at large under the provisions of this chapter, then the petition required by subsection (1) of this section shall be signed by the required number of qualified electors residing in any part of the county outside of the territory embraced within a municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district. The candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast in the county must be declared elected. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast in the general election, then the two (2) candidates who receive the highest number of votes cast in the county shall have their names submitted as candidates in a runoff election three (3) weeks after the date of the general election, and the candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast in the county in the runoff election must be declared elected.
(3) In no case shall any qualified elector residing within a municipal separate school district or special municipal separate school district be eligible to sign a petition of nomination for any candidate for the county board of education under any of the provisions of this section.
Sources: Codes, 1942, § 6271-03; Laws, 1953, Ex Sess ch. 10, § 3; Laws, 1954, ch. 283, § 3; Laws, 1958, ch. 309, § 3; Laws, 1978, ch. 392, § 1; Laws, 2009, ch. 470, § 1, eff ____________ the date the United States Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to the amendment of this section.)