Bill Text: MO HB289 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires an election authority to hire election judges based upon merit and without regard to political party affiliation instead of the current requirement that there be an equal number from each major political party
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-05-17 - Referred: Elections(H) [HB289 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2013-HB289-Introduced.html
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES MONTECILLO (Sponsor) AND CONWAY (10) (Co-sponsor).
0926H.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 115.081 and 115.087, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to election judges.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 115.081 and 115.087, RSMo, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 115.081 and 115.087, to read as follows:
115.081. 1. Each election authority shall appoint election judges for each polling place within its jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of this section.
2. In all [primary and general] elections, the election authority shall appoint [at least two] judges based upon merit and without regard to political affiliation [from each major political party to serve at each polling place. No major political party shall have a majority of the judges at any polling place. No established party shall have a greater number of judges at any polling place than any major political party].
[3. In any election that is not a primary or general election, the election authority shall appoint at least one judge from each major political party to serve at each polling place. No major political party shall have a majority of the judges at any polling place. No established party shall have a greater number of judges at any polling place than any major political party. 4] 3. The election authority shall designate two [of the] judges [appointed] for each polling place, one from each major political party, to serve as supervisory judges. Supervisory judges shall be responsible for the return of election supplies from the polling place to the election authority and shall have any additional duties prescribed by the election authority. All disputes must be resolved by agreement of the two supervisory judges or the election authority.
[5.] 4. Election judges may be employed to serve for the first half or last half of any election day. Such judges shall be paid one-half the regular rate of pay. If part-time judges are employed, the election authority shall employ such judges and shall see that a sufficient number for each period are present at all times so as to have the proper total number of judges present at each polling place throughout each election day. The election authority shall require that at each polling place at least one election judge from each political party serve a full day and that at all times during the day there be an equal number of election judges from each political party. [6.] 5. An election authority may appoint additional election judges representing other established political parties and additional election judges who do not claim a political affiliation. Any question which requires a decision by the majority of judges shall only be made by the judges from the major political parties.
115.087. 1. [In each county which does not have a board of election commissioners, the election judges shall be selected from lists provided by the county committee of each major political party or as authorized pursuant to section 115.081. Not later than December tenth in each year in which county committeemen are elected, the county committee of each major political party shall submit to the election authority a list of persons qualified to serve as election judges in double the number required to hold a general election in the county. For each election, the election authority shall select and appoint the number of judges required to hold the election. If a county committee fails to present the prescribed number of names of qualified persons by the time prescribed, the election authority may select and appoint the number of judges provided by law for the county committee's party. If the election authority deems any person on a list to be unqualified, the election authority may request the county committee which submitted the list to furnish another name.
2.] The state chairperson of each established political party may, in jurisdictions where no county committee exists and where the county clerk is the election authority, submit a list of persons qualified to serve as election judges to the county clerk. The county clerk may select and appoint additional judges from such list pursuant to section 115.081.
[3.] 2. County clerks may compile a list of persons who claim no political affiliation and who volunteer to be election judges. A county clerk may select and appoint additional judges from such list pursuant to section 115.081.
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