BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:

THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state the secretary of state shall submit to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article XXII of the Constitution of the state of Washington by repealing section 1 in its entirety; and an amendment to Article II, sections 2, 6, and 15 of the Constitution of the state of Washington to read as follows:

Article II, section 2. The house of representatives shall be composed of not less than sixty‑three nor more than ninety‑nine members. The number of senators shall ((not be more than one‑half nor less than one‑third of the number of members of the house of representatives. The first legislature shall be composed of seventy members of the house of representatives, and thirty‑five senators)) be equal to the number of counties.

Article II, section 6. After the first election the senators shall be elected by ((single districts of convenient and contiguous territory, at the same time and in the same manner as members of the house of representatives are required to be elected; and no representative district shall be divided in the formation of a senatorial district)) county with one senator for each county. They shall be elected for the term of four years, one‑half of their number retiring every two years. The ((~~senatorial districts~~)) counties shall be ((~~numbered consecutively~~)) divided by lot as nearly evenly as possible into two groups, and the senators chosen at the first election ((~~had by virtue of this Constitution, in odd numbered districts,~~)) after the effective date of this amendment, in one group shall go out of office at the end of the ((~~first~~)) second year; and the senators((,)) elected in the ((~~even numbered districts,~~)) other group shall go out of office at the end of the ((~~third~~)) fourth year.

Article II, section 15. Such vacancies as may occur in either house of the legislature or in any partisan county elective office shall be filled by appointment by the board of county commissioners of the county in which the vacancy occurs: Provided, That the person appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative district, county or county commissioner district and the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and shall be one of three persons who shall be nominated by the county central committee of that party, and in case a majority of ((~~said~~)) the county commissioners do not agree upon the appointment within sixty days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within thirty days thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for ((~~herein~~)) in this section, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district, county, or county commissioner district and of the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and the person so appointed shall hold office until his or her successor is elected at the next general election, and shall have qualified: Provided, That in case of a vacancy occurring in the office of ((~~joint senator, or joint~~)) representative from a district including territory from more than one county, the vacancy shall be filled from a list of three nominees selected by the state central committee, by appointment by the joint action of the boards of county commissioners of the counties composing the ((~~joint senatorial or joint~~)) representative district, the person appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated, and in case a majority of ((~~said~~)) the county commissioners do not agree upon the appointment within sixty days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within thirty days thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for ((~~herein~~)) in this section, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of this constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this amendment is a single amendment within the meaning of Article XXIII, section 1 of the state Constitution.

The legislature finds that the changes contained in this amendment constitute a single integrated plan for electing senators by county. If this amendment is held to be separate amendments, this joint resolution is void in its entirety and is of no further force and effect.