Bill Text: WV HB2378 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Providing school days to register and transport students to vote
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-13 - To House Education [HB2378 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2017-HB2378-Introduced.html
WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2378
By Delegates Rowe, Pushkin and Fleischauer
[Introduced February 13,
2017; Referred
to the Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-5-15g, relating to requiring county boards of education to provide days prior to early voting during primary and general elections for registering eligible students to vote and being transported to vote.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-5-15g, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-15g. Providing school days to register and transport students to vote.
(a) School Day for Registration to Vote. -- Each county board of education shall schedule a school day for eligible students to register to vote. This day shall be at least thirty days prior to the commencement of early voting for a primary, general or special election occurring during a school term. The board shall give notice through school principals of the opportunity for students to register to vote at schools where students are of an age to be eligible to vote. The notice shall be at least seven to ten days prior to the day scheduled for students to register to vote at their schools. The board or its school principals may coordinate, if they choose, with the clerk of the county commission or with an employee of the clerk's office, who are not then candidates for office, to assist with or conduct registration at the schools.
(b) School Day For Early Voting. -- Each county board of education shall select a school day during the early voting periods before each primary, general or special election occurring during a school term on which the board shall provide transportation to an appropriate voting place for students who are eligible and registered to vote. This voting transportation day shall be selected with notice to the clerk of the county commission. The board shall give notice through its principals of the transportation day in all schools with eligible registered students at least seven to ten days before the scheduled voting transportation date. Students who elect to be transported by their parents or guardians for the purpose of voting in an election during a school term may do so as an excused absence or tardy on any appropriate school day including without limitation a day scheduled by the board for voting transportation.
(c) Educational Purpose With No Electioneering. -- The activities of registering and voting by students shall be considered for an educational purpose and shall be done without electioneering by faculty or staff.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require county boards of education to provide days prior to early voting during primary, general and special elections for registering eligible students to vote and for the transportation of registered students to appropriate voting places during early voting periods.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
