H-1750.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2065
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State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Representatives Conway, Reams, Campbell, King and Basich
Read first time 02/25/93. Referred to Committee on State Government.
AN ACT Relating to ballots; amending RCW 29.30.020; adding a new section to chapter 29.30 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the laws of this state establish few barriers to placing the names of candidates for the broadest range of political parties and independent candidacies on the ballot. In providing this broad access to the ballot, the legislature must also protect the integrity of ballot by insuring that the information conveyed to the voter by the ballot is not confusing or misleading. The purpose of this act is to ensure that the notations selected for indicating on the ballot the political parties of candidates are not misleading or confusing.
Sec. 2. RCW 29.30.020 and 1990 c 59 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
The positions or offices on a primary ballot shall be arranged in substantially the following order: United States senator; United States representative; governor; lieutenant governor; secretary of state; state treasurer; state auditor; attorney general; commissioner of public lands; superintendent of public instruction; insurance commissioner; state senator; state representative; county officers; justices of the supreme court; judges of the court of appeals; judges of the superior court; and judges of the district court. For all other jurisdictions on the primary ballot, the offices in each jurisdiction shall be grouped together and be in the order of the position numbers assigned to those offices, if any.
The order of the positions or offices on an election ballot shall be substantially the same as on a primary ballot except that the offices of president and vice-president of the United States shall precede all other offices on a presidential election ballot. State ballot issues shall be placed before all offices on an election ballot. The positions on a ballot to be assigned to ballot measures regarding local units of government shall be established by the secretary of state by rule.
The political party or independent candidacy of each candidate for partisan office shall be indicated, as provided in section 3 of this act, next to the name of the candidate on the primary and election ballot.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 29.30 RCW to read as follows:
A ballot notation made under RCW 29.30.020 indicating the political party or independent candidacy of a candidate for partisan office shall not contain the name or abbreviation of the name of another political party noted on the ballot for the same office. In implementing this requirement with regard to the ballot notations for the political parties of candidates for a particular office: The notation for the name of a minor political party or independent candidacy shall not contain the name or abbreviation of the name of a major political party of a candidate for the office; the notation for the name of a major political party organized in this state or renamed after 1980 shall not contain the name or abbreviation of the name of a major political party organized in this state during or before 1980 if the latter party is the political party of a candidate for the office; and the notation for the name of a minor political party organized in this state or renamed after 1980 shall not contain the name or abbreviation of the name of a minor political party organized in this state during or before 1980 if the latter party is the political party of a candidate for the office.
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