19:6-22 Organization of county board of elections.

19:6-22. a. (1) The county boards shall, at 10 a.m., on the second Tuesday in March, or on such other day as they may agree on within the first 15 days in March in each year, meet at the courthouse, or other place as provided for, in their respective counties, and, subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection, organize by electing one of their number to be chairman and one to be secretary; but the chairman and secretary shall not be members of the same political party.

(2) In case of failure to elect a chairman after three ballots or viva voce votes, the member having the greatest seniority on the board shall be the chairman thereof, except that if the member having the greatest seniority on the board so chooses, that member shall instead be secretary of the board; in the event that that senior member so chooses to become secretary, no election shall be held to choose a secretary of the board, the board shall elect one of its members who is not of the same political party as the secretary to be the chairman of the board, and in the case of a failure again to elect a chairman after three ballots or viva voce votes, the person among those members having the greatest seniority on the board shall be the chairman thereof.

In any case of failure to elect a chairman, if two or more members of the board who are eligible to become chairman have greatest and equal seniority on the board, then the board shall, not later than the fifth day following the organization meeting, notify the Governor of an inability to fill the position of chairman either by election or on the basis of seniority, including in that notice a certification of the names of those senior members of the board. In addition, if the position of secretary has not otherwise been filled under the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, the board shall defer for the time being the election of a secretary. Not later than the fifth day following receipt of the notice, the Governor shall designate one of those senior members to be chairman of the board and certify that designation to the board. If the position of secretary was not filled at the initial meeting of the county board to organize, then not later than the fifth day following receipt of that certification, the board shall reconvene at the call of the chairman so designated and shall elect a secretary of the board.

In case of failure to elect a secretary after three ballots or viva voce votes, the member of the board having the greatest seniority shall be secretary of the board, except that if that member has become chairman because of election to that position or because of designation as a result of the failure to elect a chairman, the member with the next greatest seniority shall be secretary. In no case, however, shall the chairman and secretary be members of the same political party.

Seniority for the purposes of this section shall be determined by the total amount of time that a person has served as a member of the board, beginning from the date that that person took the oath of office as a member.

b. The boards shall have power in their discretion to hold their meetings for any purpose, except organization, in any part of their respective counties. Meetings may be called by either the chairman or the secretary of the board, or at the request of any two members.

amended 1948, c.2, s.8; 1973, c.179; 1996, c.90; 2005, c.136, s.9; 2007, c.61, s.5; 2011, c.134, s.9.