1. A. Write-in candidates shall be permitted in regular local elections.
2. B. A person may be a write-in candidate only if the person has the qualifications to be a candidate for the position for which the person is running.
3. C. A person desiring to be a write-in candidate for an office shall file with the proper filing officer a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate. The declaration shall be filed between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the sixty-third day preceding the date of the election.
4. D. The declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate shall be accompanied by a nominating petition containing the same number of signatures or the filing fee required of other candidates for the same office.
5. E. A write-in candidate shall be considered a candidate for all purposes and provisions relating to candidates in the Local Election Act, except that the write-in candidate's name shall not be printed on the ballot nor posted in any polling place.

History: 1978 Comp., § 1-22-8.1, enacted by Laws 2018, ch. 79, § 22; 2019, ch. 212, § 149; 2023, ch. 39, § 86.

ANNOTATIONS

The 2023 amendment, effective June 16, 2023, provided that write-in candidates have the same filing requirements as other candidates for the same office; in Subsection C, after a declaration of", deleted "candidacy" and added "intent to be a write-in candidate", and deleted "The county clerk shall ensure that a declaration of candidacy filed pursuant to this section specifies that it is for a write-in candidate."; and in Subsection D, deleted "At the time of filing the declaration of candidacy", and added "declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate shall be accompanied by a nominating petition containing the same number of signatures or the filing fee required of other candidates for the same office.".

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, removed certain provisions related to write-in candidates; deleted former Subsection D, which related to counting a write-in vote; redesignated former Subsection E as Subsection D; and deleted former Subsections F and G, which related to casting a write-in vote and certifying an election where a write-in candidate is unopposed.