H-3834.1          _______________________________________________

                            SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2163

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              54th Legislature             1996 Regular Session

By House Committee on Government Operations (originally sponsored by Representatives Benton, D. Schmidt, Smith and Thompson)

Read first time 01/25/96. 

Revising nonpartisan election laws.

     AN ACT Relating to the election of officials at general elections; and amending RCW 29.21.015 and 29.30.085.

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

     Sec. 1.  RCW 29.21.015 and 1990 c 59 s 90 are each amended to read as follows:

     No primary may be held for any ((single position in any city, town, or district, as required by RCW 29.21.010,)) nonpartisan office if, after the last day allowed for candidates to withdraw, there are no more than two candidates filed for the position.  The county auditor shall, as soon as possible, notify all the candidates so affected that the office for which they filed will not appear on the primary ballot.  Names of candidates so notified shall be printed upon the general election ballot in the manner specified by RCW 29.30.025.

     Sec. 2.  RCW 29.30.085 and 1992 c 181 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

     (1) Except as provided in RCW 29.30.086 and in subsection (2) of this section, on the ballot at the general election for a nonpartisan office for which a primary was held, only the names of the candidate who received the greatest number of votes and the candidate who received the next greatest number of votes for that office shall appear under the title of that office, and the names shall appear in that order.  If a primary was conducted, no candidate's name may be printed on the subsequent general election ballot unless he or she receives at least one percent of the total votes cast for that office at the preceding primary.  On the ballot at the general election for any other nonpartisan office for which no primary was held, the names of the candidates shall be listed in the order determined under RCW 29.30.025.

     (2) ((On the ballot at the general election for the office of justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, judge of the superior court, or state superintendent of public instruction, if a candidate in a contested primary receives a majority of all the votes cast for that office or position, only the name of that candidate may be printed under the title of the office for that position.)) As provided in Article IV, section 29, of the state Constitution, if after the last day for withdrawing declarations of candidacy only one person has filed as a candidate for any single position of the office of superior court judge in a county containing a population of one hundred  thousand or more, a primary or general election shall not be held for that position, and the person who filed for that office shall be issued a certificate of election for that office.

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