Candidates file application; fee and petition for name on official ballot.

(1) Any person desiring to become a candidate for election as a delegate to said convention shall file a sworn application with the Department of State on such form as that department shall prescribe, not less than 20 days before the date of election, in which shall be stated the person’s name in full, residence, age, color, and occupation. Such application shall also state, under oath, that the applicant is a citizen of the United States and of the state and is a qualified elector of the county in which he or she resides. The applicant may also state whether or not he or she favors the ratification of the proposed amendment or opposes it and whether or not he or she desires his or her name to appear upon the ballot as favoring or opposing such amendment or as unpledged.

(2) If the applicant shall request that his or her name appear on the ballot as favoring or as opposing the amendment, his or her application shall be accompanied by a qualification fee of $25 and by one or more petitions, requesting that his or her name be placed upon the official ballot, and signed by not fewer than 500 qualified electors. It shall be permissible for any number of qualified voters to join in one or more petitions requesting the placing on the official ballot of the names of more than one candidate but not exceeding the total number to be elected. Any applicant may withdraw his or her name at any time before the ballots are actually printed.