_______________________________________________
SENATE
BILL 5267
_______________________________________________
AS
AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed
Legislature - 1995 Regular Session
State of Washington 54th
Legislature 1995 Regular Session
By
Read first time 01/17/95.
Referred to Committee on Government Operations.
Establishing filing
fees and tabulation procedures for write-in candidates.
AN ACT
Relating to write-in candidates; amending RCW 29.04.180 and 29.51.170; and
recodifying RCW 29.51.170.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
29.04.180 and 1990 c 59 s 100 are each amended to read as follows:
Any
person who desires to be a write-in candidate and have such votes counted at a
primary or election may, if the jurisdiction of the office sought is entirely
within one county, file a declaration of candidacy with the county auditor not
later than the day before the primary or election. If the jurisdiction of the
office sought encompasses more than one county the declaration of candidacy
shall be filed with the secretary of state not later than the day before the
primary or election. Declarations of candidacy for write-in candidates must
be accompanied by a filing fee in the same manner as required of other
candidates filing for the office as provided in RCW 29.15.050.
Votes
cast for write-in candidates who have filed such declarations of candidacy and
write-in votes for persons appointed by political parties pursuant to RCW
29.18.160 need only specify the name of the candidate in the appropriate location
on the ballot in order to be counted. Write-in votes cast for any other
candidate, in order to be counted, must designate the office sought and
position number or political party, if applicable.
No
person may file as a write-in candidate where:
(1) At
a general election, the person attempting to file either filed as a write-in
candidate for the same office at the preceding primary or the person's name
appeared on the ballot for the same office at the preceding primary;
(2)
The person attempting to file as a write-in candidate has already filed a valid
write-in declaration for that primary or election, unless one or the other of
the two filings is for the office of precinct committeeperson;
(3)
The name of the person attempting to file already appears on the ballot as a
candidate for another office, unless one of the two offices for which he or she
is a candidate is precinct committeeperson.
The
declaration of candidacy shall be similar to that required by RCW 29.15.010.
No write-in candidate filing under RCW 29.04.180 may be included in any voter's
pamphlet produced under chapter 29.80 RCW unless that candidate qualifies to
have his or her name printed on the general election ballot. The legislative
authority of any jurisdiction producing a local voter's pamphlet under chapter
29.81A RCW may provide, by ordinance, for the inclusion of write-in candidates
in such pamphlets.
Sec.
2. RCW
29.51.170 and 1988 c 181 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
For
any office at any election or primary, any voter may write in on the ballot the
name of any person for an office who has filed as a write-in candidate for the
office in the manner provided by RCW 29.04.180 and such vote shall be counted
the same as if the name had been printed on the ballot and marked by the
voter. No write-in vote made for any person who has not filed a declaration of
candidacy pursuant to RCW 29.04.180 is valid if that person filed for the same
office, either as a regular candidate or a write-in candidate, at the preceding
primary. Any abbreviation used to designate office, position, or political
party shall be accepted if the canvassing board can determine, to their
satisfaction, the voter's intent.
Write-in
votes cast for an office need not be tallied if, assuming all of these write-in
votes were cast for the same person, the write-in votes could not have altered
the outcome of the primary or election.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. RCW
29.51.170 shall be recodified as a section in chapter 29.62 RCW.
