EMERGENCY RULES
Date of Adoption: January 12, 2000.
Purpose: For clarification of existing statutes, and providing alternative methods for presidential primary ballots.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 434-219-202 and 434-219-160.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 29.19.070.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.
Reasons for this Finding: [No information supplied by agency.]
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 1, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: Immediately.
January 12, 2000
Donald F. Whiting
Assistant Secretary of State
OTS-3709.1
NEW SECTION
WAC 434-240-202
Mailing of absentee ballots.
Absentee ballots for the March 14, 2000, special election may be mailed no later than fifteen days before the day of the special election. Overseas and out-of-state voter's ballots should be mailed at the earliest possibility for the March 14, 2000, special election. As provided by RCW 29.30.075 the county auditor shall have sufficient absentee ballots ready to mail to absentee voters of that county at least twenty days before the election.
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Ballots for each major political party and unaffiliated ballots shall be provided as follows:
(1) Where candidate names are listed on physically separate ballots, each ballot shall be identified by color and either the name of the political party or as an unaffiliated ballot. Each separate ballot shall contain a machine readable code to distinguish each ballot type within each precinct.
(2) Where candidate names are listed on a consolidated ballot, they shall be printed in such a manner that each part's group of candidates is clearly distinguishable and identified by party name. The unaffiliated ballot may be listed in a separate listing or may be considered a combination of the party ballots. The order of the parties shall be the same as the order in which candidates names are listed on partisan general election ballots.
At a polling place, each ballot must be coded so that only votes cast for candidates of the party matching the oath signed by the voter are counted.
The code shall be a response position on the consolidated ballot identifying one of the major political parties or the unaffiliated status. Its purpose will be to exclude any vote cast on the ballot that does not correspond to the party or unaffiliated status indicated by the voter on the response position. The voter must mark or punch the appropriate response position corresponding to the oath or declaration on the absentee ballot return envelope. If the vote is cast at a polling place, the voter or precinct election official shall mark or punch the code. If the code is marked or punched by the voter, the precinct election official shall ensure that the code matches the oath or declaration as signed in the poll book. If a consolidated ballot is used in a mail ballot precinct or as an absentee ballot and a party/unaffiliated code is not used, each returning ballot must be segregated by oath and then subsequently inspected to ensure that only votes cast for candidates corresponding to the oath signed by the voter are counted.
(3) Any alternative method approved by the office of the secretary of state.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 29.19.070. 96-03-141, recodified as § 434-219-160, filed 1/24/96, effective 2/24/96; 91-18-012, § 434-75-160, filed 8/26/91, effective 9/26/91.]
Reviser's note: RCW 34.05.395 requires the use of underlining and deletion marks to indicate amendments to existing rules. The rule published above varies from its predecessor in certain respects not indicated by the use of these markings.