SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 5645

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Extends the candidate filing period for 72 hours if an incumbent officeholder withdraws their declaration of candidacy.
Extends the candidate filing period for an additional 72 hours if another incumbent officeholder files for the original officeholder's office.

Background: Candidates for elective office must file a declaration of candidacy in order to appear on the ballot. Candidates for statewide and federal offices must file their declarations with the Secretary of State, as must candidates in districts of multiple counties for appellate and superior courts and the state Legislature. For all other offices, the declaration of candidacy must be filed with the county auditor.

A filing fee is paid to the same officer with whom the declaration of candidacy is filed. For any office with a fixed annual salary of $1,000 or less, the filing fee is $10. For all other offices, the filing fee is 1 percent of the annual salary of the office. Candidates may submit petitions to have the filing fee waived.

The filing period begins at the opening of business on the Monday two weeks before Memorial Day and ends at the close of business that Friday. A candidate can withdraw their declaration of candidacy by filing a signed request with the same officer with whom the declaration was filed. The period available to see that one's name does not appear on the ballot ends at the close of business hours on the Monday following the filing period.

Summary of Bill: If an incumbent officeholder who has filed for re-election withdraws their declaration of candidacy, the filing period for that office is extended 72 hours after the close of business on the last day for candidates to withdraw their declaration of candidacy. Should another incumbent officeholder choose to file for the office being vacated, declarations of candidacy may be filed for that incumbent's office for an additional 72 hours.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: This is a good government measure. There's a current oversight in our system that prevents parties from nominating or replacing a candidate who withdraws in the window after the filing period closes.

CON: This creates a cavalcade of filing periods that crunch time frames for ballot preparation and printing.