AN ACT Relating to public utility district elections; amending RCW 54.12.010 and 54.04.060; and adding a new section to chapter 54.12 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 54.12 RCW to read as follows:

All registered voters living within a public utility district or the service area of a public utility district, including persons living in annexed territory of the public utility district located outside the county, shall be entitled to vote for commissioner or be eligible for election to the office of commissioner as provided by RCW 54.12.010.

Sec. 2. Section 4, chapter 1, Laws of 1931 as last amended by section 37, chapter 126, Laws of 1979 ex. sess. and RCW 54.12.010 are each amended to read as follows:

Within ten days after such election, the county canvassing board shall canvass the returns, and if at such election a majority of the voters voting upon such proposition shall vote in favor of the formation of such district, the canvassing board shall so declare in its canvass of the returns of such election, and such public utility district shall then be and become a municipal corporation of the state of Washington, and the name of such public utility district shall be Public Utility District No. ..... of .......... County. The powers of the public utility district shall be exercised through a commission consisting of three members in three commissioner districts, and five members in five commissioner districts. When the public utility district is coextensive with the limits of such county, then, at the first election of commissioners and until any change shall have been made in the boundaries of public utility district commissioner districts, one public utility district commissioner shall be chosen from each of the three county commissioner districts of the county in which the public utility district is located if the county is not operating under a "Home Rule" charter. When the public utility district comprises only a portion of the county, with boundaries established in accordance with chapter 54.08 RCW, or when the public utility district is located in a county operating under a "Home Rule" charter, three public utility district commissioner districts, numbered consecutively, having approximately equal population and boundaries, following ward and precinct lines, as far as practicable, shall be described in the petition for the formation of the public utility district, which shall be subject to appropriate change by the county legislative authority if and when they change the boundaries of the proposed public utility district, and one commissioner shall be elected from each of said public utility district commissioner districts. In all five commissioner districts an additional commissioner at large shall be chosen from each of the two at large districts. No person shall be eligible to be elected to the office of public utility district commissioner for a particular district commissioner district unless he is a registered voter of the public utility district commissioner district or at large district from which he is elected.

Except as otherwise provided, the term of office of each public utility district commissioner other than the commissioners at large shall be six years, and the term of each commissioner at large shall be four years. Each term shall be computed in accordance with RCW 29.04.170 following the commissioner's election. One commissioner at large and one commissioner from a commissioner district shall be elected at each general election held in an even-numbered year for the term of four years and six years respectively. All candidates shall be voted upon by the entire public utility district.

When a public utility district is formed, three public utility district commissioners shall be elected at the same election at which the proposition is submitted to the voters as to whether such public utility district shall be formed. If the general election adopting the proposition to create the public utility district was held in an even-numbered year, the commissioner residing in commissioner district number one shall hold office for the term of six years; the commissioner residing in commissioner district number two shall hold office for the term of four years; and the commissioner residing in commissioner district number three shall hold office for the term of two years. If the general election adopting the proposition to create the public utility district was held in an odd-numbered year, the commissioner residing in commissioner district number one shall hold office for the term of five years, the commissioner in district two shall hold office for the term of three years, and the commissioner in district three shall hold office for the term of one year. The commissioners first to be elected as above provided shall hold office from the first day of the month following the commissioners' election and their respective terms of office shall be computed from the first day of January next following the election.

All public utility district commissioners shall hold office until their successors shall have been elected and have qualified and assume office in accordance with RCW 29.04.170. A filing for nomination for public utility district commissioner shall be accompanied by a petition signed by one hundred registered voters of the public utility district, annexed territory outside the public utility district, or a service area of the public utility district, which shall be certified by the county auditor to contain the required number of registered voters, and shall otherwise be filed in accord with the requirements of RCW 29.21.060. At the time of filing such nominating petition, the person so nominated shall execute and file a declaration of candidacy subject to the provisions of RCW 29.21.060, as now or hereafter amended. The petition and each page of the petition shall state whether the nomination is for a commissioner from a particular commissioner district or for a commissioner at large and shall state the districts; otherwise it shall be void. A vacancy in the office of public utility district commissioner shall occur by death, resignation, removal, conviction of a felony, nonattendance at meetings of the public utility district commission for a period of sixty days unless excused by the public utility district commission, by any statutory disqualification, or by any permanent disability preventing the proper discharge of his duty. In the event of a vacancy in said office, such vacancy shall be filled at the next general election held in an even-numbered year, the vacancy in the interim to be filled by appointment by the remaining commissioners. If more than one vacancy exists at the same time in a three commissioner district, or more than two in a five commissioner district, a special election shall be called by the county canvassing board upon the request of the remainder, or, that failing, by the county election board, such election to be held not more than forty days after the occurring of such vacancies.

A majority of the persons holding the office of public utility district commissioner at any time shall constitute a quorum of the commission for the transaction of business, and the concurrence of a majority of the persons holding such office at the time shall be necessary and shall be sufficient for the passage of any resolution, but no business shall be transacted, except in usual and ordinary course, unless there are in office at least a majority of the full number of commissioners fixed by law.

The boundaries of the public utility district commissioners' district may be changed only by the public utility district commission, and shall be examined every ten years to determine substantial equality of population, but said boundaries shall not be changed oftener than once in four years, and only when all members of the commission are present. The proposed change of the boundaries of the public utility district commissioners' district must be made by resolution and after public hearing. Notice of the time of a public hearing thereon shall be published for two weeks prior thereto. Upon a referendum petition signed by ten percent of the qualified voters of the public utility district being filed with the county auditor, the county legislative authority shall submit such proposed change of boundaries to the voters of the public utility district for their approval or rejection. Such petition must be filed within ninety days after the adoption of resolution of the proposed action. The validity of said petition shall be governed by the provisions of chapter 54.08 RCW.

A person living in annexed territory located outside the county or in a service area of the public utility district, shall be entitled to vote for commissioner or be eligible for election to the office of commissioner as provided by RCW 54.12.010, as if the person were living in a county commissioner district of the public utility district. Before any such election, the commissioners of the public utility district shall establish boundaries within the annexed territory outside the county or in the service area of the public utility district so that persons living in the annexed territory or in the service area who are eligible to vote in such an election shall vote so that their total votes are distributed proportionately among the commissioner districts within the public utility district. Persons living in annexed territory outside the county or in a service area of the public utility district shall be eligible for election to the office of commissioner in the commissioner district in which they are eligible to vote or as a commissioner at large.

Sec. 3. Section 5, chapter 1, Laws of 1931 as last amended by section 1, chapter 207, Laws of 1951 and RCW 54.04.060 are each amended to read as follows:

The supervisor of elections or other proper officer or officers of the county or counties shall give notice of all elections held under this title, for the time and in the manner and form provided for city, town, school district, and port district elections. When the supervisor or other officer deems an emergency exists, and is requested so to do by a resolution of the district commission, ((~~he may call~~)) a special election may be called at any time in the district, and ((~~he may combine or divide~~)) precincts may be combined or divided for the purpose of holding special elections, and special elections shall be conducted and notice thereof given in the manner provided by law.

The supervisor or supervisors or other officers shall provide polling places, appoint the election officers, provide their compensation, provide ballot boxes, and ballots or voting machines, poll books and tally sheets, and deliver them to the election officers at the polling places, publish and post notices of the elections in the manner provided by law, and apportion to the district its share of the expense of the election.

The manner of conducting and voting at the elections, opening and closing of polls, keeping of poll lists, canvassing the votes, declaring the result, and certifying the returns, shall be the same as for the election of state and county officers, except as otherwise provided herein.

The district commission shall certify to the supervisor or supervisors a list of offices to be filled at a district election and the commission, if it desires to submit to the voters of the district a proposition, shall require the secretary of the commission to certify it at the time and in the manner and form provided for certifying propositions by the governing board of cities, towns, and port districts.