H-2308              _______________________________________________

                                SUBSTITUTE HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 4204

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State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By House Committee on Constitution, Elections & Ethics (originally sponsored by Representatives Fisher, Pruitt and Fisch)

Read first time 3/6/87 and passed to Committee on Rules.

BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:

          THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article II, section 15 of the Constitution of the state of Washington to read as follows:

Article II, section 15.           Such vacancies as may occur in either house of the legislature or in any partisan county elective office shall be filled by appointment by the board of county commissioners of the county in which the vacancy occurs:  PROVIDED, That the person appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative district, county or county commissioner district and the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and shall be one of three persons who shall be nominated by the county central committee of that party, and in case a majority of said county commissioners do not agree upon the appointment within ((sixty)) twenty-eight days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within ((thirty)) seven days thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district, county or county commissioner district and of the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and the person so appointed shall hold office until his successor is elected at the next general election, and shall have qualified((:  PROVIDED, That)).

In case of a vacancy occurring in the office of joint senator, or joint representative, the vacancy shall be filled from a list of three nominees selected by the state central committee, by appointment by the joint action of the boards of county commissioners of the counties composing the joint senatorial or joint representative district, the person appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated((, and)).  Of the total vote cast by the boards in filling a vacancy in such a joint district, each county's share shall be equal to the percentage, to the nearest whole percent, of the district's registered voters that reside within the county based upon the number of persons registered to vote at the state general election immediately preceding the joint action.  Further, a county's share of that vote shall be divided equally among the members of that county's board.  In case a majority of said county commissioners do not agree upon the appointment within ((sixty)) twenty-eight days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within ((thirty)) seven days thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated.

For the purpose of filling a vacancy in either house of the legislature, the references in this section to board or boards of county commissioners, commissioner, or commissioners also means the legislative body or bodies of a county or counties with a home rule charter and a member or members of such a body or bodies.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of the foregoing constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state and that, if Substitute House Bill No. 243 is enacted into law before July 1, 1987, the ballot title of the foregoing constitutional amendment shall be as follows:  "Shall county officials' constitutional powers to fill vacancies in the legislature and in county partisan offices be revised and updated?"