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SENATE BILL 5267
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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.
Passed
the Senate April 17, 1995.
Passed
the House April 6, 1995.
Approved by the Governor April 27, 1995.
Filed in Office of
Secretary of State April 27, 1995.
