General election ballots shall conform to the following standards and specifications:

(A) The ballot shall be printed on paper of such thickness that the printing cannot be distinguished from the back and shall be of such size and color as directed by the State Election Commission. If more than one ballot is to be used in any election, each such ballot shall be printed upon different colored paper;

(B) Across the top of the ballot shall be printed "Official Ballot, General Election," beneath which shall be printed the date of the election, the county and the precinct. Above the caption of each ballot shall be one stub, with a perforated line between the stub and the top of the ballot. The stub shall have printed thereon "Official Ballot, General Election" and then shall appear the name of the county, the precinct and the date of the election. On the right side there shall be a blank line under which there shall be "Initials of Issuing Officer." Stubs on ballots for each precinct shall be prenumbered consecutively, beginning with No. 1;

(C) On the ballot for presidential electors there shall be printed, under the titles of the offices, the names of the candidates for President and Vice President of the United States nominated by each political party qualified under the provisions of Section 7-9-10 and those nominated by petition. A separate column shall be assigned to each political party with candidates and to each separate petition slate of candidates on the ballot and each party and each petition candidate's columns shall be separated by distinct black lines. At the head of each column the party or petition name shall be printed in large type and below it a circle, one-half inch in diameter, and below the circle the names of the party's and petition candidates for President and Vice President in that order. On the face of the ballot above the party and petition candidate's column division the following instruction shall be printed in heavy black type:

a. To vote this ballot make a cross (X) mark in the circle below the name of the political party or petition column for whose candidates you wish to vote.

b. A vote for the names of a political party's candidates or petition candidates for President and Vice President is a vote for the electors of that party or petition candidates, the names of whom are on file with the Secretary of State.

On the bottom of the ballot shall be printed an identified facsimile of the signature of the Executive Director of the State Election Commission.

(D) The names of candidates offering for any other office shall be placed in the proper place on the appropriate ballot, stating whether it is a state, congressional, legislative, county or other office.

(E) The names of the several officers to be voted for and the tickets of the parties and petition candidates shall be placed on the ballots in an order as arranged by the State Election Commission as to those ballots for which it is responsible for distribution and by the board of voter registration and elections members for the respective counties as to the ballots for which they are responsible for distribution, including those for State Senator and member of the House of Representatives. If the State Senator or member of the House of Representatives or any other officer is to be elected from more than one county, the board of voter registration and elections members from the various counties from which they are to be elected shall assure that there shall be uniformity of placement on the ballots of their respective counties and should the board members fail to agree within sixty days prior to the general election, and upon receipt of written certification by at least one commissioner, that they have failed to act, the State Election Commission shall determine the order of placing the names on the ballots.

(F) Each county board of voter registration and elections must provide a copy of each ballot style to be used for primary, general, and special elections in the absentee precinct in the county to the Executive Director of the State Election Commission not later than September fifteenth in the case of general elections, and not later than forty days prior to the date of the election in the case of special and primary elections. If the ballot styles are not available by these deadlines, the executive director must determine when absentee ballots for that county will be available. If a determination is made that absentee ballots will not be available in sufficient time to adequately effectuate absentee voting, the executive director is empowered to direct the county board of voter registration and elections to provide the blank ballots provided by Section 7-15-360 until the regular ballots are available. The executive director must also notify the chairman of the county's legislative delegation of his findings and the action taken.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 23-400.12; 1952 Code Section 23-309; 1950 (46) 2059; 1966 (54) 2340; 1968 (55) 2316; 1974 (58) 2124; 1982 Act No. 419, Section 2, eff June 8, 1982; 1984 Act No. 402, Section 1, eff May 24, 1984; 2000 Act No. 236, Section 4, eff March 7, 2000; 2006 Act No. 223, Section 2, eff February 3, 2006.