SB1374 - 521R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 16-311, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-311. Nomination papers; filing; definitions

A. Any person desiring to become a candidate at a primary election for a political party and to have the person's name printed on the official ballot shall be a qualified elector of such party and, not less than ninety nor more than one hundred twenty days before the primary election, shall sign and cause to be filed a nomination paper giving the person's actual residence address or description of place of residence and post office address, naming the party of which the person desires to become a candidate, stating the office and district or precinct, if any, for which the person offers the person's candidacy, stating the exact manner in which the person desires to have the person's name printed on the official ballot pursuant to subsection G of this section, and giving the date of the primary election and, if nominated, the date of the general election at which the person desires to become a candidate. A candidate for public office shall be a qualified elector at the time of filing and shall reside in the county, district or precinct that the person proposes to represent.

B. Any person desiring to become a candidate at any nonpartisan election and to have the person's name printed on the official ballot shall be at the time of filing a qualified elector of such county, city, town or district and, not less than ninety nor more than one hundred twenty days before the election, shall sign and cause to be filed a nomination paper giving the person's actual residence address or description of place of residence and post office address, stating the office and county, city, town or district and ward or precinct, if any, for which the person offers the person's candidacy, stating the exact manner in which the person desires to have the person's name printed on the official ballot pursuant to subsection G of this section and giving the date of the election. A candidate for office shall reside at the time of filing in the county, city, town, district, ward or precinct that the person proposes to represent.

C. Notwithstanding subsection B of this section, any city or town may adopt by ordinance for its elections the time frame provided in subsection A of this section for filing nomination petitions. Such ordinance shall be adopted not less than one hundred twenty days before the first election to which it applies.

D. All persons desiring to become a candidate shall file with the nomination paper provided for in subsection A of this section an affidavit, which shall be printed in a form prescribed by the secretary of state. The affidavit shall include facts sufficient to show that, other than the residency requirement provided in subsection A of this section and the satisfaction of any monetary penalties, fines or judgments as prescribed in subsection I J of this section, the candidate will be qualified at the time of election to hold the office the person seeks, and that for any monetary penalties, fines or judgments as prescribed in subsection I J of this section, the candidate has made complete payment before the time of filing.

E. The nomination paper of a candidate for the office of United States senator or representative in Congress, for the office of presidential elector or for a state office, including a member of the legislature, or for any other office for which the electors of the entire state or a subdivision of the state greater than a county are entitled to vote, shall be filed with the secretary of state no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last date for filing.

F. The nomination paper of a candidate for superior court judge or for a county, district and precinct office for which the electors of a county or a subdivision of a county other than an incorporated city or town are entitled to vote shall be filed with the county elections officer no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last date for filing as prescribed by subsection A of this section. The nomination paper of a candidate for a city or town office shall be filed with the city or town clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last date for filing. The nomination paper of a candidate for school district office shall be filed with the county school superintendent no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last date for filing.

G. The nomination paper shall include the exact manner in which the candidate desires to have the person's name printed on the official ballot and shall be limited to the candidate's surname and given name or names, an abbreviated version of such names or appropriate initials such as "Bob" for "Robert", "Jim" for "James", "Wm." for "William" or "S." for "Samuel". Nicknames are permissible, but in no event shall nicknames, abbreviated versions or initials of given names suggest reference to professional, fraternal, religious or military titles. No other descriptive name or names shall be printed on the official ballot, except as provided in this section. Candidates' abbreviated names or nicknames may be printed within quotation marks. The candidate's surname shall be printed first, followed by the given name or names.

H. A person who does not file a timely nomination paper that complies with this section is not eligible to have the person's name printed on the official ballot for that office. The filing officer shall not accept the nomination paper of a candidate for state or local office unless the person provides or has provided all of the following:

1. The nomination petition required by this title.

2. A political committee statement of organization or the five hundred dollar threshold exemption statement for that office.

3. The financial disclosure statement as prescribed for candidates for that office.

4. The affidavit of qualification and eligibility as prescribed in subsection D of this section.

I. A person desiring to become a candidate at a primary election for a political party may file a nomination paper as prescribed in subsection A of this section jointly with one or more other candidates for office in the same political party. A joint nomination paper may only include candidates of the same political party who are candidates for nomination at a partisan or nonpartisan primary election for offices that are on the partisan or nonpartisan primary election ballot at the same primary election, are candidates who are required to file with the same filing officer and who represent the same election district. The nomination petition for those candidates shall comply with section 16-314. The filing officer shall accept a joint nomination petition as the submittal for each of the candidates listed on the joint petition.

I. J. Except in cases where the liability is being appealed, the filing officer shall not accept the nomination paper of a candidate for state or local office if the person is liable for an aggregation of one thousand dollars or more in fines, penalties, late fees or administrative or civil judgments, including any interest or costs, in any combination, that have not been fully satisfied at the time of the attempted filing of the nomination paper and the liability arose from failure to comply with or enforcement of chapter 6 of this title.

J. K. For the purposes of this title:

1. "Election district" means the state, any county, city, town, precinct or other political subdivision or a special district that is not a political subdivision, that is authorized by statute to conduct an election and that is authorized or required to conduct its election in accordance with this title.

2. "Nomination paper" means the form filed with the appropriate office by a person wishing to declare the person's intent to become a candidate for a particular political office. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 16-314, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-314. Filing and form of nomination petitions; definition

A. Any person desiring to become a candidate at any election and to have the person's name printed on the official ballot shall file, within the same time and with the same officer as provided by section 16‑311, a nomination petition in addition to the nomination paper required.

C. B. Nomination petitions shall be captioned "partisan nomination petition" or "nonpartisan nomination petition", followed by the language of the petition in substantially the following form:

Partisan Nomination Petition

I, the undersigned, a qualified elector of the county of ______________, state of Arizona, and of (here name political division or district from which the nomination is sought) and a member of the _______________ party or a person who is registered as no party preference or independent as the party preference or who is registered with a political party that is not qualified for representation on the ballot, hereby nominate _______________ who resides at _______________ in the county of _______________ for the party nomination for the office of _______________ to be voted at the primary election to be held _______________ as representing the principles of such party, and I hereby declare that I am qualified to vote for this office and that I have not signed, and will not sign, any nomination petition for more persons than the number of candidates necessary to fill such office at the next ensuing election. I further declare that if I choose to use a post office box address on this petition, my residence address has not changed since I last reported it to the county recorder for purposes of updating my voter registration file.

Nonpartisan Nomination Petition

I, the undersigned, a qualified elector of the county of _______________, state of Arizona, and of (here name political division or district from which the nomination is sought) hereby nominate _______________ who resides at _______________ in the county of _______________ for the office of ______________ to be voted at the _______________ election to be held _______________, and hereby declare that I am qualified to vote for this office and that I have not signed and will not sign any nomination petitions for more persons than the number of candidates necessary to fill such office at the next ensuing election. I further declare that if I choose to use a post office box address on this petition, my residence address has not changed since I last reported it to the county recorder for purposes of updating my voter registration file.

D. C. The nomination petition of a person seeking to fill an unexpired vacant term for any public office shall designate the expiration date of the term following the name of the office being sought.

D. For candidates of the same political party who choose to circulate a joint nomination petition on which each signature on the petition constitutes a signature for each of the joint candidates, the nomination petition shall clearly state that by signing the petition the qualified elector is nominating more than one candidate for office.

B. E. For the purposes of this title, "nomination petition" means the form or forms used for obtaining the required number of signatures of qualified electors, which is circulated by or on behalf of the person one or more persons wishing to become a candidate for a political office. END_STATUTE