115.019. Voters may petition to establish a board of election commissioners, procedure--form of petition.
Voters may petition to establish a board of election commissioners,procedure--form of petition.
115.019. 1. Any group of registered voters from any county of the firstclassification not having a board of election commissioners may circulate apetition for the formation of a board.
2. The petition shall be signed by the number of registered voters inthe county equal to at least fifteen percent of the total votes cast in thecounty for governor at the last gubernatorial election.
3. Petitions proposing the formation of a board of electioncommissioners in any county of the first classification shall be filed withthe election authority of the county not later than 5:00 p.m. on thethirteenth Tuesday preceding a general election.
4. Each petition for the formation of a board of election commissionersshall consist of sheets of uniform size. The space for signatures on eitherside of a petition page shall be no larger than eight and one-half by fourteeninches, and each page shall contain signatures of registered voters from onlyone county. Each page of each petition for the formation of a board ofelection commissioners shall be in substantially the following form:
To the Honorable ......................................, county clerk of......................... County:
We, the undersigned, citizens and registered voters of ..................County, respectfully order that the following question be placed on theofficial ballot, for acceptance or rejection, at the next general election tobe held on the ................. day of ............., ..........:
"Should a board of election commissioners be established in.............. County to assume responsibility for the registration of votersand the conduct of elections?";
and each for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this petition;I am a registered voter of the state of Missouri and ............ County; myregistered voting address and the name of the city, town or village in which Ilive are correctly written after my name. CIRCULATOR'S AFFIDAVIT STATE OFMISSOURI, COUNTY OF ............... I, ..................., a resident of the state of Missouri, being firstduly sworn, say (print or type names of signers)
REGISTERED VOTING NAME DATE ADDRESS ZIP CONG NAME (Signature)SIGNED (Street) CODE DIST. (Printed(City,
Town or or Village) Typed)
(Here follow numbered lines for signers)
signed this page of the foregoing petition, and each of them signed his or hername thereto in my presence; I believe that each has stated his or her name,registered voting address and city, town or village correctly, and that eachsigner is a registered voter of the state of Missouri and ........... County.
..............................
Signature of Affiant
(Person obtaining signatures)
..............................
Address of Affiant
Subscribed and sworn to before me this .................... day of................., A.D. .............
..............................
Signature of Notary Notary Public (Seal) My commission expires ..................................
If this form is followed substantially, it shall be sufficient, disregardingclerical and merely technical errors.
5. The validity of each petition filed pursuant to provisions of thissection shall be determined in the manner provided for new party andindependent candidate petitions in sections 115.333, 115.335 and 115.337.
6. Upon the filing of a valid petition for the formation of a board ofelection commissioners or upon a majority vote of the county commission in anycounty of the first classification with more than eighty-two thousand butfewer than eighty-two thousand one hundred inhabitants, it shall be the dutyof the election authority to have the following question placed on theofficial ballot, in the same manner other questions are placed, at the nextgeneral election:
"Should a board of election commissioners be established in................... County to assume responsibility for the registration ofvoters and the conduct of elections?"
7. The votes for and against the question shall be counted and certifiedin the same manner as votes on other questions.
8. If the question is approved by a majority of the voters at theelection, a board of election commissioners shall be appointed as provided inthis subchapter and shall have the same rights and responsibilities providedby law for all boards of election commissioners.
9. Any person who is a registered voter of a county of the firstclassification not having a board of election commissioners may sign apetition for the formation of a board in the county. Any person who signs aname other than the person's own to any petition or knowingly signs theperson's name more than once to the same petition or who knows the person isnot a registered voter at the time of signing such petition, or any officer orperson willfully violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of aclass two election offense.
(L. 1977 H.B. 101 § 2.010, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1471, et al., A.L. 1997 S.B. 132, A.L. 1999 H.B. 676, A.L. 2005 H.B. 58 merged with H.B. 342 merged with S.B. 210)