NOTE: §410.6 as amended and reenacted by Acts 2024, No. 640, eff. June 12, 2025, for certain purposes, and eff. Jan. 1, 2026, for all other purposes. See Acts 2024, No. 640 and Acts 2025, No. 386.

§410.6. Death of a candidate; procedure; selection of party nominee

            A. When a person who qualified as a candidate in a party primary election to be the party nominee for a party primary office dies after the close of the qualifying period and before the time for closing the polls on the day of that party primary election, the name of the deceased candidate shall not be printed on the party primary election ballot. If the party primary election ballot was printed with the deceased candidate's name on it, any votes received by the deceased candidate shall be void and shall not be counted for any purpose whatsoever.

            B.(1) If as the result of the death of a candidate in a party primary election, a major political party has no party nominee qualified for the general election, the major political party shall select, in the manner provided in its bylaws, the party nominee who shall meet all of the qualifications for the party primary office.

            (2) The chairman of the state central committee of the major political party shall transmit an attestation to the secretary of state containing the name of the party nominee, the signature of the chairman of the state central committee, the signature of the party nominee, and any other information required by the form of the attestation prescribed by the secretary of state. The attestation shall be filed as soon as possible after the death of the party's candidate, but no later than noon on the seventh day prior to the general election day. If the attestation is received no later than 4:30 p.m. on the seventh day after the close of the qualifying period for nonparty primary offices for the fall primary election, the secretary of state shall print the name of the selected party nominee on the ballot. If the attestation is filed in accordance with this Paragraph, but the name of the selected party nominee is not placed on the ballot, there shall be a notice regarding the selected party nominee posted at each polling place and on the website of the secretary of state. If the selected party nominee's name is not placed on the ballot, all votes cast for the party's deceased candidate shall be attributed to the party nominee.

            (3) If the party nominee dies after noon on the seventh day prior to general election day, there shall be no selected party nominee, and no attestation shall be filed with or accepted by the secretary of state. All votes cast for the deceased party nominee shall be counted, and if the deceased party nominee obtains the most votes cast for the party primary office in the general election, a vacancy in the party primary office shall be declared.

            Acts 2024, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 1, §1, eff. See Act; Acts 2024, No. 640, §1, eff. See Act; Acts 2025, No. 386, §2, eff. See Act.