HB340 Summary

• Converts circuit and district court judge elections from partisan (party-nominated) to nonpartisan elections, removing all party designations from ballots and declarations of candidacy.

• Requires candidates for circuit or district court judgeships to pay a filing fee equal to 2% of the annual state salary for the office, with fees deposited into the State General Fund.

• Allows candidates to file an affidavit of indigency with the Secretary of State in lieu of paying the filing fee.

• Establishes a separate "Official Nonpartisan Judicial Ballot" section on ballots listing all judicial candidates in alphabetical order by surname, with numbered positions when multiple judges are elected simultaneously.

• Requires candidates to file declarations of candidacy at least 60 days before primary elections, and mandates that all judicial candidates appear on both primary and general election ballots regardless of vote totals.