HB1743 Summary

• Establishes consolidated election dates by moving general elections to three weeks before the second Tuesday in June, with preferential primaries three weeks before general primaries, and combines state and federal primary elections on the same date to reduce election administration costs

• Creates a unified candidate filing period of one week ending at noon on the first day in March (beginning one week prior), applying to all candidates indicating party affiliation, running as independents, or filing as write-in candidates

• Allows voters to select candidates from a single ballot by furnishing separate ballots for each political party plus a nonpartisan ballot containing all qualified candidates for general elections held with the preferential primary

• Requires candidates indicating party affiliation to file a party certificate, political practices pledge, and affidavit of eligibility during the unified filing period, with candidates unable to file as both a party-affiliated candidate and an independent or write-in candidate in the same election

• Transfers primary election cost responsibility to the state (paid through State Board of Election Commissioners appropriations) and streamlines multiple election processes by eliminating separate filing deadlines and consolidating election dates