A PROPOSITION

No. 128

Introduced by Mr. Winsor, of Yuma County.

A Proposition Relative to Official Ballots and the Conduct of Elections.

IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED:

Section 1. All ballots used or voted at any election to be held within this State after the first election following the adoption of the Constitution shall be prepared and printed under the direction of the proper officers of the State, or of the district, county, city or other division in which such election is to be held, as may be provided by law, which shall be styled "Official Ballots," and no other ballots shall be used or voted at any election.

Section 2. All official ballots shall be printed with black ink on white paper of sufficient thickness to prevent the printing thereupon from being discernable from the back; all ballots shall be substantially uniform as to style, size, thickness, and the same type shall be used for the names of all candidates on the same ballot.

Section 3. All official ballots shall be not less than four [-] more than six inches wide, and as long as the list of candidates to be voted for, or the questions to be submitted may require, and shall contain, in such order of precedence as may be provided by law, the official title of all offices proper to be placed thereon. Such ballots shall be headed by the words "Official Ballot," and the date of the election, and the name of the County, city or other division in which the election is held, which shall be printed in heavy faced plain letters, not smaller than long primer, or larger than great primer, with a heavy rule above and below the same. Such ballots shall not contain any party emblem or device, nor any party heading, nor any party designation, except as hereafter provided, and the names of the candidates to be voted for shall be arranged in a single column, as hereinafter provided.

Section 4. The name of each candidate and of the office to filled shall be printed at right angles with the length of the ballot, in plain Roman type, not larger than long primer nor smaller than brevier; the name of each candidate in capital letters, preceded on tile same line by the title of the office in capitals and small letters. Each name shall be followed on the same line, in upper and lower case letters, by the party designation of the candidate. At the left of and on a line with such names and designations, near the margin, there shall be a space so inclosed by rule work as to make a square three-eighths of an inch in size, in which the voter may designate his choice by a cross (X). Above and below each name shall be printed across the ballot a light line, except that above and below each office a heavier line shall be so printed. Below the name of the last named candidate for each office there shall be placed as many blank lines as there are offices of the kind to be filled, preceded by the title of such office. Like squares shall be placed at the left of the blank lines, and on such lines the voter may write the names of persons for whom he desires to vote whose names are not printed, and in the squares opposite the same he may make marks as in the case of printed names. The spaces for the names of candidates shall be three-eighths of an inch wide. At right angles with such lines and to the left of the small squares shall be printed opposite each office the words "Vote for one," or "Vote for two," or more according to the number to be elected.

Section 5. Propositions to be submitted to the voters shall be printed at the foot of the official ballot and shall be so printed that the voter may conveniently indicate by a cross (X) either an affirmative or a negative answer to each. The legislature may, however, provide for the submission of any or all such propositions upon a separate ballot.

Section 6. A political party which has adopted a party name and is entitled to have its candidates placed upon the official ballot, shall be entitled to the exclusive use of such party name for the designation of its candidates, and no candidate of any other party or other candidate shall be entitled to have printed thereon as a party designation any part of such name. In case of candidates nominated otherwise than by a party convention or party primary election, the name adopted by the persons making the nomination shall be deemed a party designation.

Section 7. On the back of each ballot shall be printed in plain type, not smaller in size than great primer, the words "Official Ballot," the date of the election, a facsimile of the official signature of the officer under whose direction the ballot is printed, and lines for the initials of two judges of the election. Such printing shall be so placed as to be visible when the ballot is properly folded for deposit.

Section 8. Whenever there are two or more candidates for any office, the names of all the candidates for such office appearing on the ballot shall be so alternated on the ballots used in each election precinct or election district that they shall appear thereon substantially an equal number of times at the top, at the bottom, and in each intermediate place, if any, of the list or group in which they belong. All officers charged with the preparation and distribution of such ballots shall cause the prisoners forms to be so transposed and the blocks of ballots to be so made up as to carry out the intent hereof: Provided, that this provision shall not apply to the office of presidential elector, but the names of the candidates for presidential electors shall be arranged with the names of the candidates of each party in alphabetical order and the names of the candidates of the party casting the highest number of votes at the last preceding general election shall be printed first, those of the party casting the next highest number of votes, second, and so continuing with all political parties having candidates whose names are entitled to be printed on such ballots, and following with the names of candidates for presidential electors nominated otherwise than by party convention or party primary, alphabetically arranged, and in the order in which their certificates of nomination are filed.

Section 9. All ballots shall be bound in blocks of not less than twenty nor more than fifty and shall be so arranged that no two ballots containing the same arrangement of names of candidates shall be in immediate contact, and such ballots shall be so delivered to the voters, that ballots containing the same arrangement of names of candidates shall not be delivered to any two voters in succession.

Sec. 10. Every voter shall indicate his choice by placing a mark in the square immediately preceding the name of each candidate for whom he desires to vote, or by writing the name of the person for whom he desires to vote in the blank space left for that purpose and placing a mark in the square preceding the name so written, and no vote shall be counted for any candidate unless the ballot shall be so marked.

• Proposition Number 128 - Official Ballots and the Conduct of Elections (introduced on 1910-11-24 09:30:00 - CREATE_FROM - e943344) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]
  • Motion to Adopt the Committee Recommendation on Propositions Number 34, 142, 25, 81, 109, 36, 38, 49, 77, 42, 46, 128, 30, 111, 51, 84, 32, 87, and 85 (introduced on 1910-11-24 09:30:00 - PROCEDURE - e944317) [view current proposal at this moment]
    • None (introduced on 1910-11-24 09:30:00 - ADOPT_PROPOSAL - e944332) [view current proposal at this moment]