A filing fee of ten dollars shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for any office with a fixed annual salary of one thousand dollars or less; a filing fee equal to one percent of the annual salary of the office at the time of filing shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for any office with a fixed annual salary of more than one thousand dollars per annum. No filing fee need accompany a declaration of candidacy for precinct committee officer or any office for which compensation is on a per diem or per meeting attended basis.

     A candidate who lacks sufficient assets or income at the time of filing to pay the filing fee required by this section shall submit with his or her declaration of candidacy a filing fee petition. The petition shall contain not less than a number of signatures of registered voters equal to the number of dollars of the filing fee. The signatures shall be of voters registered to vote within the jurisdiction of the office for which the candidate is filing.

     When the candidacy is for:

     (1) A statewide office, the United States senate, or the United States house of representatives, the fee shall be paid to the secretary of state;

     (2) A legislative or judicial office that includes territory from more than one county, the fee shall be paid to the secretary of state for equal division between the treasuries of the counties comprising the district;

     (3) A legislative or judicial office that includes territory from only one county, the fee shall be paid to the county auditor;

     (4) A city or town office, the fee shall be paid to the county auditor who shall transmit it to the city or town clerk for deposit in the city or town treasury.

[2009 c 106 § 2; 2006 c 206 § 3; 2005 c 221 § 2; 2004 c 271 § 160.]