Bill Text: AZ HB2017 | 2016 | Fifty-second Legislature 2nd Regular | Engrossed
Bill Title: Signs; early voting; removal
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-04-26 - House minority caucus: Do pass [HB2017 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2016-HB2017-Engrossed.html
|
Conference Engrossed |
|
State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-second Legislature Second Regular Session 2016
|
|
HOUSE BILL 2017 |
|
|
|
|
AN ACT
amending sections 16-248, 16-411 and 16-1019, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to elections.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-248, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-248. Designation of polling places; electioneering
A. Not less than twenty days before a presidential preference election, the board of supervisors shall designate a reasonable and adequate number of polling places where the election shall be held.
B. The number of polling places for the presidential preference election is to be determined according to the number of active registered voters as of January 1 of the year of the presidential preference election.
C. Each county with one million or more active registered voters shall determine the number of voting locations for the presidential preference election, including those established pursuant to section 16-411, subsection B, by using at least one voting location for every one thousand seven hundred active registered voters who are not on the permanent early voting list prescribed by section 16-544 and who are eligible to participate in the presidential preference election as determined as of January 1 of the year of the presidential preference election. The board of supervisors may authorize an alternate minimum number of voting locations if the locations are determined pursuant to section 16-411, subsection B.
C. D. Each county with less than one million active registered voters but two hundred thousand or more active registered voters shall determine the number of polling places for the presidential preference election by using no more than one‑half of the number of precincts as of January 1 of the year of the presidential preference election.
D. E. Each county with less than two hundred thousand active registered voters but ten thousand or more active registered voters shall determine the number of polling places for the presidential preference election by using no more than one polling place for every two thousand active registered voters as of January 1 of the year of the presidential preference primary.
E. F. Each county with less than ten thousand active registered voters shall determine the number of polling places for the presidential preference election by using no more than one polling place for every one thousand active registered voters as of January 1 of the year of the presidential preference election.
G. Except in the case of an emergency, any facility that is used as a polling place or a voting center shall allow persons to electioneer and engage in other political activity including the posting of political signs as defined in section 16‑1019. a county recorder or other officer in charge of elections may designate a polling place for a presidential preference election as an emergency polling place and thus prohibit persons from electioneering and engaging in other political activity, including the posting of political signs as defined in section 16-1019 outside of the seventy-five foot limit prescribed by section 16‑515 but inside the property of the facility that is hosting the polling place, if any of the following occurs:
1. An act of god renders a previously set polling place as unusable.
2. A county recorder or other officer in charge of elections has exhausted all options and there are no suitable facilities in a precinct that are willing to be a polling place unless a facility can be given an emergency designation.
F. H. If it is determined by the secretary of state that compliance with state and federal regulations would be jeopardized, the secretary of state has the authority to release a county from the number of polling places prescribed by this section.
G. I. This section does not apply to land located on an Indian reservation.
H. J. In precincts that contain fewer than three hundred active registered voters, the officer in charge of elections may conduct a presidential preference election by mail.
Sec. 2. Section 16-411, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-411. Designation of election precincts and polling places; voting centers; electioneering; wait times
A. Except as prescribed by subsection J of this section, The board of supervisors of each county, on or before December 1 of each year preceding the year of a general election, by an order, shall establish a convenient number of election precincts in the county and define the boundaries of the precincts. The election precinct boundaries shall be so established as included within election districts prescribed by law for elected officers of the state and its political subdivisions including community college district precincts, except those elected officers provided for in titles 30 and 48.
B. Not less than twenty days before a general or primary election, and at least ten days before a special election, the board shall designate one polling place within each precinct where the election shall be held, except that:
1. On a specific finding of the board, included in the order or resolution designating polling places pursuant to this subsection, that no suitable polling place is available within a precinct, a polling place for that precinct may be designated within an adjacent precinct.
2. Adjacent precincts may be combined if boundaries so established are included in election districts prescribed by law for state elected officials and political subdivisions including community college districts but not including elected officials prescribed by titles 30 and 48. The officer in charge of elections may also split a precinct for administrative purposes. The polling places shall be listed in separate sections of the order or resolution.
3. On a specific finding of the board that the number of persons who are listed as permanent early voters pursuant to section 16‑544 is likely to substantially reduce the number of voters appearing at one or more specific polling places at that election, adjacent precincts may be consolidated by combining polling places and precinct boards for that election. The board of supervisors shall ensure that a reasonable and adequate number of polling places will be designated for that election. Any consolidated polling places shall be listed in separate sections of the order or resolution of the board.
4. On a specific resolution of the board, the board may authorize the use of voting centers in place of or in addition to specifically designated polling places. as follows:
(a) A voting center shall allow any voter in that county to receive the appropriate ballot for that voter on election day and lawfully cast the ballot. Voting centers may be established in coordination and consultation with the county recorder, at other county offices or at other locations in the county deemed appropriate.
(b) For any election held after June 1, 2017 and before the county approves the use of voting centers, the county RECORDER or other officer in charge of elections shall publish a list and map of proposed voting center locations on the county's WEBSITE, and the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall hold at least three public hearings to provide for public comment on the proposed voting center locations. The county RECORDER or other officer in charge of elections shall create a record of the information received at each hearing and may revise or amend any list of proposed voting center locations as a result of information received at the public hearings. The RECORDS from the public hearings shall be provided to the board of supervisors before the adoption of any resolution that authorizes the locations to be used for voting centers. For an election held solely by or for a jurisdiction other than a county, that jurisdiction shall publish the list of proposed voting center locations and conduct the hearings.
(c) Subdivision (b) of this paragraph does not apply if the jurisdiction holding the election used voting centers to conduct its immediately preceding election and at least ninety percent of its voting center locations are unchanged.
(d) For the purposes of this paragraph, "voting center" means a location at which a ballot may be lawfully cast or received without regard to where the voter resides within the jurisdiction that is holding the election.
C. If the board fails to designate the place for holding the election, or if it cannot be held at or about the place designated, the justice of the peace in the precinct, two days before the election, by an order, copies of which the justice of the peace shall immediately post in three public places in the precinct, shall designate the place within the precinct for holding the election. If there is no justice of the peace in the precinct, or if the justice of the peace fails to do so, the election board of the precinct shall designate and give notice of the place within the precinct of holding the election. For any election in which there are no candidates for elected office appearing on the ballot, the board may consolidate polling places and precinct boards and may consolidate the tabulation of results for that election if all of the following apply:
1. All affected voters are notified by mail of the change at least thirty‑three days before the election.
2. Notice of the change in polling places includes notice of the new voting location, notice of the hours for voting on election day and notice of the telephone number to call for voter assistance.
3. All affected voters receive information on early voting that includes the application used to request an early voting ballot.
D. The board is not required to designate a polling place for special district mail ballot elections held pursuant to article 8.1 of this chapter, but the board may designate one or more sites for voters to deposit marked ballots until 7:00 p.m. on the day of the election.
E. Except as provided in subsection F of this section, a public school shall provide sufficient space for use as a polling place for any city, county or state election when requested by the officer in charge of elections.
F. The principal of the school may deny a request to provide space for use as a polling place for any city, county or state election if, within two weeks after a request has been made, the principal provides a written statement indicating a reason the election cannot be held in the school, including any of the following:
1. Space is not available at the school.
2. The safety or welfare of the children would be jeopardized.
G. The board shall make available to the public as a public record a list of the polling places for all precincts in which the election is to be held including identification of polling place changes that were submitted to the United States department of justice for approval.
H. Except in the case of an emergency, any facility that is used as a polling place on election day or that is used as an early voting site during the period of early voting shall allow persons to electioneer and engage in other political activity, including the posting of political signs as defined in section 16-1019, outside of the seventy‑five foot limit prescribed by section 16‑515 in public areas and parking lots used by voters. This subsection shall not be construed to permit the temporary or permanent construction of structures in public areas and parking lots or the blocking or other impairment of access to parking spaces for voters. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall post on its website at least two weeks before election day a list of those polling places in which emergency conditions prevent electioneering and shall specify the reason the emergency designation was granted and the number of attempts that were made to find a polling place before granting an emergency designation. If the polling place is not on the website list of polling places with emergency designations, electioneering and other political activity, including the posting of political signs as defined in section 16-1019, shall be permitted outside of the seventy‑five foot limit. If an emergency arises after the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections' initial website posting, the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall update the website as soon as is practicable to include any new polling places, shall highlight the polling place location on the website and shall specify the reason the emergency designation was granted and the number of attempts that were made to find a polling place before granting an emergency designation.
I. For the purposes of this section, a county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall designate a polling place as an emergency polling place and thus prohibit persons from electioneering and engaging in other political activity, including the posting of political signs as defined in section 16-1019, outside of the seventy-five foot limit prescribed by section 16‑515 but inside the property of the facility that is hosting the polling place if any of the following occurs:
1. An act of god renders a previously set polling place as unusable.
2. A county recorder or other officer in charge of elections has exhausted all options and there are no suitable facilities in a precinct that are willing to be a polling place unless a facility can be given an emergency designation.
J. The secretary of state shall provide through the instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16‑452 the maximum allowable wait time for any election that is subject to section 16‑204 and provide for a method to reduce voter wait time at the polls in the primary and general elections. The method shall consider at least all of the following for primary and general elections in each precinct:
1. The number of ballots voted in the prior primary and general elections.
2. The number of registered voters who voted early in the prior primary and general elections.
3. The number of registered voters and the number of registered voters who cast an early ballot for the current primary or general election.
4. The number of election board members and clerks and the number of rosters that will reduce voter wait time at the polls.
K. The board of supervisors of a county shall not change precinct lines during the period after July 31, 2008 and before January 1, 2011. The board of supervisors may subdivide an election precinct for administrative purposes or may provide for more than one polling place within the boundaries of the election precincts established for use in voting in elections held after July 31, 2008 and before January 1, 2011. In providing for multiple polling places within a precinct, the board of supervisors shall consider the particular population characteristics of each precinct in order to provide the voters the most reasonable access to the polls possible.
Sec. 3. Section 16-1019, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-1019. Political signs; printed materials; tampering; violation; classification
A. It is a class 2 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly remove, alter, deface or cover any political sign of any candidate for public office, or knowingly remove, alter or deface any political mailers, handouts, flyers or other printed materials of a candidate that are delivered by hand to a residence for the period commencing forty‑five eighty-six days before a the primary election date prescribed by section 16-201 and ending seven days after the general election date prescribed by section 16-211.
B. This section does not apply to the removal, alteration, defacing or covering of a political sign or other printed materials by the candidate or the authorized agent of the candidate in support of whose election the sign or materials were placed, by the owner or authorized agent of the owner of private property on which such signs or printed materials are placed with or without permission of the owner or placed in violation of state law or county, city or town ordinance or regulation.
C. Notwithstanding any other statute, ordinance or regulation, a city, town or county of this state shall not remove, alter, deface or cover any political sign if the following conditions are met:
1. The sign is placed in a public right-of-way that is owned or controlled by that jurisdiction.
2. The sign supports or opposes a candidate for public office or it supports or opposes a ballot measure.
3. The sign is not placed in a location that is hazardous to public safety, obstructs clear vision in the area or interferes with the requirements of the Americans with disabilities act (42 United States Code sections 12101 through 12213 and 47 United States Code sections 225 and 611).
4. The sign has a maximum area of sixteen square feet, if the sign is located in an area zoned for residential use, or a maximum area of thirty-two square feet if the sign is located in any other area.
5. The sign contains the name and telephone number or website address of the candidate or campaign committee contact person.
D. If the city, town or county deems that the placement of a political sign constitutes an emergency, the jurisdiction may immediately relocate the sign. The jurisdiction shall notify the candidate or campaign committee that placed the sign within twenty-four hours after the relocation. If a sign is placed in violation of subsection C of this section and the placement is not deemed to constitute an emergency, the city, town or county may notify the candidate or campaign committee that placed the sign of the violation. If the sign remains in violation at least twenty-four hours after the jurisdiction notified the candidate or campaign committee, the jurisdiction may remove the sign. The jurisdiction shall contact the candidate or campaign committee contact and shall retain the sign for at least ten business days to allow the candidate or campaign committee to retrieve the sign without penalty.
E. A city, town or county employee acting within the scope of the employee's employment is not liable for an injury caused by the failure to remove a sign pursuant to subsection D of this section unless the employee intended to cause injury or was grossly negligent.
F. Subsection C of this section does not apply to commercial tourism, commercial resort and hotel sign free zones as those zones are designated by municipalities. The total area of those zones shall not be larger than three square miles, and each zone shall be identified as a specific contiguous area where, by resolution of the municipal governing body, the municipality has determined that based on a predominance of commercial tourism, resort and hotel uses within the zone the placement of political signs within the rights-of-way in the zone will detract from the scenic and aesthetic appeal of the area within the zone and deter its appeal to tourists. Not more than two zones may be identified within a municipality.
G. A city, town or county may prohibit the installation of a sign on any structure owned by the jurisdiction.
H. Subsection C of this section applies only during the period commencing sixty eighty-six days before a the primary election date prescribed by section 16-201 and ending fifteen days after the general election date prescribed by section 16-211, except that for a sign for a candidate in a primary election who does not advance to the general election, the period ends fifteen days after the primary election date prescribed by section 16-201.
I. This section does not apply to state highways or routes, or overpasses over those state highways or routes.
