Assembly Bill No. 100

Assembly Bill No. 100-Committee on Elections,
Procedures, and Ethics

CHAPTER

142

AN ACT relating to elections; reducing the period for filing a declaration or acceptance of candidacy for certain candidates for public office; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

[Approved June 12, 1997]

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

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Section 1. NRS 293.1725 is hereby amended to read as follows:
293.1725 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, a minor political party which [desires] wishes to place its candidates on the ballot for a general election and:
(a) Is entitled to do so pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection 2 of NRS 293.1715; or
(b) Files a petition pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 2 of NRS 293.1715,
must file with the secretary of state a list of its candidates not earlier than [January 1] the first Monday in May preceding the election nor later than the last Friday in June. The list must be signed by the person so authorized in the certificate of existence of the minor political party before a notary public or other person authorized to take acknowledgments. The list must not be amended after it is filed.
2. The secretary of state shall immediately forward a certified copy of the list of candidates of each minor political party to the filing officer with whom each candidate must file his declaration of candidacy.
3. Each candidate on the list must file his declaration of candidacy with the proper filing officer and pay the fee required by NRS 293.193 not earlier than the date on which the list of candidates of his minor political party is filed with the secretary of state nor later than the first Wednesday in July.
4. A minor political party that wishes to place candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States on the ballot and has otherwise qualified to place the names of its candidates on the ballot for the general election pursuant to the provisions of this chapter must file with the secretary of state a certificate of nomination for these offices not later than the first Tuesday in September.
Sec. 2. NRS 293.200 is hereby amended to read as follows:
293.200 1. An independent candidate for partisan office must file with the proper filing officer:
(a) A copy of the petition of candidacy that he intends to circulate for signatures. The copy must be filed before the petition may be circulated.
(b) A petition of candidacy signed by a number of registered voters equal to at least 1 percent of the total number of ballots cast in the state or in the county or district electing that officer at the last preceding general election in which a person was elected to that office.
2. The petition may consist of more than one document. Each document must bear the name of the county in which it was circulated and only registered voters of that county may sign the document. The person who circulates the document must be a registered voter of that county. If the office is a district office, only the registered voters of that district may sign the document. The documents which are circulated for signature in a county must be submitted to that county clerk for verification in the manner prescribed in NRS 293.1276 to 293.1279, inclusive, not later than 40 days before filing the petition of candidacy with the proper filing officer. Each signer shall add to his signature the address of the place at which he actually resides, the date that he signs the petition and the name of the county where he is registered to vote for the purpose of determining whether he is a registered voter. The person who circulates each document of the petition shall sign an affidavit attesting that the signatures on the document are genuine to the best of his knowledge and belief and were signed in his presence by persons registered to vote in that county.
3. The petition of candidacy may state the principle, if any, which the person qualified represents.
4. Petitions of candidacy must be filed not earlier than the first [Tuesday in March] Monday in May preceding the general election and not later than 5 p.m. on the third Tuesday in August.
5. No petition of candidacy may contain the name of more than one candidate for each office to be filled.
6. A person may not file as an independent candidate if he is proposing to run as the candidate of a political party.
7. The names of independent candidates must be placed on the general election ballot and must not appear on the primary election ballot.
8. If the candidacy of any person seeking to qualify pursuant to this section is challenged, all affidavits and documents in support of the challenge must be filed not later than 5 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday in August. Any judicial proceeding resulting from the challenge must be set for hearing not more than 5 days after the fourth Tuesday in August.
9. Any challenge pursuant to subsection 8 must be filed with:
(a) The first judicial district court if the petition of candidacy was filed with the secretary of state.
(b) The district court for the county where the petition of candidacy was filed if the petition was filed with a county clerk.
10. An independent candidate for partisan office must file a declaration of candidacy with the proper filing officer and pay the fee required by NRS 293.193 not earlier than the first [Tuesday in March] Monday in May of the year in which the election is held nor later than 5 p.m. of the first Wednesday in July.
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