§ 18:1259 — Arrangement of ballot; designation of party candidates

§1259. Arrangement of ballot; designation of party candidates
A. In any year in which presidential electors are to be elected, the secretary of state
shall arrange the voting machine ballot in such manner that the names of candidates for
president and vice president shall appear on the ballot in the first column, beginning at the
top and proceeding downward. If necessary, the listing of the names of candidates for
president and vice president may continue in the second and succeeding columns. The
names of the presidential electors shall appear on the ballot in the manner as provided for in
Subsection B of this Section.
B.(1) The ballot shall be so arranged that the names of the candidate for president
and the candidate for vice president nominated by each recognized political party, by
nominating petition, or by filing of notices of candidacy accompanied by a qualifying fee
shall appear prominently together with the name of the presidential candidate on top and the
name of the vice presidential candidate directly underneath.
(2) Directly to the left of the names of the presidential and vice presidential
candidates shall appear:
(a) If nominated by a recognized political party, the name of the party and such
national party emblem, if any, or state party device, if any, as the state central committee of
the party shall direct, and
(b) If nominated by a nominating petition or by the filing of notices of candidacy, the
political principle which the candidates support, as stated on the nominating petition or on
the notices of candidacy, if any, and the words "Nominating Petition" or the abbreviation
"Nom. Petition" shall appear if nominated by petition.
(3) Immediately below the name of the party, or, if nominated by a nominating
petition, the words "Nominating Petition" or the abbreviation "Nom. Petition" shall appear
the word "Electors".
(4) Immediately below the word "Electors" the names of the presidential electors
nominated in support of the nominees for president and vice president of that party or
political principle shall appear.
(5) On a voting machine, there shall be a button or candidate selection button with
which to mark the ballot opposite each pair of names. On paper ballots, there shall be a
single box within which to mark the ballot opposite each pair of names.
(6) In preparing the ballots, the secretary of state shall arrange the names of the
candidates of recognized political parties alphabetically, according to the names of the
parties, followed by the names of the candidates nominated by nominating petitions and by
the filing of notices of candidacy, listed alphabetically by the first word of the political
principle designated in the notice of candidacy.
C. No candidate nominated other than by a recognized political party shall use the
name of any recognized political party in the political principle designated in the notice of
candidacy of such candidate.
D. The ballot shall contain the following statement: "A vote for candidates for
president and vice president is a vote for each of the electors supporting those candidates."

Legislative History

Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Acts 1977, No. 588, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Acts 1978, No. 292, §1, eff. July 6, 1978; Acts 1990, No. 107, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 2001, No. 1181, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2002; Acts 2003, No. 1220, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; Acts 2004, No. 526, §2, eff. June 25, 2004; Acts 2008, No. 136, §1, eff. June 6, 2008; Acts 2024, No. 390, §1; Acts 2025, No. 386, §1.