H-3105              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1428

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Representatives Thomas, Schmidt, Walker and van Dyke

Read first time 1/14/86 and referred to Committee on Constitution, Elections & Ethics.

AN ACT Relating to legislative vacancies; and adding a new section to chapter 44.04 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 44.04 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) When a vacancy occurs in a state legislative district consisting of more then one county, the various county legislative authorities involved in preparing the list of nominees to fill the vacancy shall be equally represented, regardless of the form of county government or the number of members on each county legislative authority.  If any county legislative authority has more members than another, it shall select a number of its members equal to that of the smallest body to engage in the nomination process.

          (2) If  a county legislative authority required to select a smaller number of its members under subsection (1) of this section fails to make that selection within thirty days after the state legislative vacancy occurs, the list of nominees may be prepared by the other county legislative authority or authorities involved, and the action is deemed to comply with Article 2, section 15 of the state Constitution.