S-4307.2 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6561
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State of Washington 54th Legislature 1996 Regular Session
By Senators Haugen, Snyder, Winsley and Hale
Read first time 01/17/96. Referred to Committee on Government Operations.
AN ACT Relating to the presidential primary; and amending RCW 29.19.020.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 29.19.020 and 1995 1st sp.s. c 20 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) On the fourth Tuesday in May of each year in which a president of the United States is to be nominated and elected, a presidential primary shall be held at which voters may vote for the nominee of a major political party for the office of president. The secretary of state may propose an alternative date for the primary no later than the first day of August of the year before the year in which a president is to be nominated and elected.
(2) No later than the first day of September of the year before the year in which a presidential nominee is selected, the state committee of any major political party that will use the primary results for candidates of that party may propose an alternative date for that primary.
(3) If an alternative date is proposed under subsection (1) or (2) of this section, a committee consisting of the chair and the vice-chair of the state committee of each major political party, the secretary of state, the majority leader and minority leader of the senate, and the speaker and the minority leader of the house of representatives shall meet and, if affirmed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the committee, the date of the primary shall be changed. The committee shall meet and decide on the proposed alternate date not later than the first day of October of the year before the year in which a presidential nominee is selected. The secretary of state shall convene and preside over the meeting of the committee. A committee member other than a legislator may appoint, in writing, a designee to serve on his or her behalf. A legislator who is a member of the committee may appoint, in writing, another legislator to serve on his or her behalf.
(4) If an alternate date is approved under this section, the secretary of state shall adopt rules under RCW 29.19.070 to adjust the deadlines in RCW 29.19.030 and related provisions of this chapter to correspond with the date that has been approved.
(5) No later than the 31st day of December of the year before the year in which a presidential nominee is selected, the state committee of each major political party in the state shall submit to the secretary of state a statement that the state delegation for that party to its national convention the next year shall cast their votes on the first ballot to select a presidential nominee, so that the percentage of the state's delegates' votes for each candidate whose name is, in fact, placed in nomination, is as nearly equal as possible to the percentage of votes for all candidates of that party which that candidate received in the presidential primary. The statement must also provide that if votes are cast in the presidential primary for candidates whose names are not subsequently placed in nomination at the national convention, a percentage of the state's delegates' votes as nearly equal as possible to the percentage of presidential primary votes for all candidates of that party cast for those candidates whose names are not placed in nomination shall not be bound to any particular candidate on the first ballot to select a presidential nominee at the national convention. The statement required by this subsection must be accompanied by copies of resolutions and amendments to bylaws and rules adopted in accordance with that party's procedures reflecting its agreement. If a statement and supporting documentation as required by this subsection are not received by the secretary of state from each major political party, the secretary of state, on the first working day of January of the year in which a presidential nominee is selected, shall cancel the presidential preference primary for that year and make a public announcement to that effect.
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