§3-5-18.  Disposition of certificates of results.

(a) The certificates of the board of canvassers made pursuant to the preceding section shall be by them disposed of as follows:  One of the certificates showing the votes received by each candidate of each party for each office to be filled by the voters of a political division greater than a county, including members of the state Executive Committee, shall be filed with the Secretary of State, and preserved in his or her office, and a copy thereof filed in the office of the clerk of the county commission of the county of such board, to be preserved by the clerk, and which shall be open to public inspection; one certificate showing the votes received by each candidate of each party for each office to be filled by the voters of the county or magisterial district within such county, including members of the county executive committee, shall be filed with the clerk of the county commission, and preserved in his or her office.  If requested, the board of canvassers shall furnish to the county chairman of each political party a certificate showing the number of votes received by each of the candidates of such party in the county or any magisterial district therein.

(b) The Secretary of State shall certify by the seventy-first day next preceding the date of the general election, under the seal of the state, to the clerk of the county commission of each county in which a candidate is to be voted for, the name of the candidate of each political party receiving the highest number of votes in the political division in which he or she is a candidate, and who is entitled to have his or her name placed on the official ballot in the general election as the nominee of the party for such office.  However, the certification shall include any candidates entitled to have their name placed on the official ballot in the general election as the nominee of the party following the filling of vacancies made pursuant to section nineteen of this article or other relevant state law. The Secretary of State shall also certify in the same manner the names of all candidates nominated by political parties or by groups of citizens, not constituting a political party, in any manner provided for making such nominations in this chapter.

(c) The Secretary of State may not include in the certification any person who has timely filed a notarized statement of withdrawal according to section eleven of this article.