H-2247

AN ACT Relating to write-in voting; and amending RCW 29.04.180, 29.15.050, 29.62.180, and 29.54.050.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 29.04.180 and 1995 c 158 s 1 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. In order for write-in votes to be valid in jurisdictions employing optical-scan mark sense ballot systems the voter must complete the proper mark next to the write-in line for that office.

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 29.15.050 and 1990 c 59 s 85 are each amended to read as follows:

A filing fee of one dollar shall accompany each declaration of candidacy for precinct committee officer; a filing fee of ten dollars shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for any office with a fixed annual salary of one thousand dollars or less; a filing fee equal to one percent of the annual salary of the office at the time of filing shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for any office with a fixed annual salary of more than one thousand dollars per annum. No filing fee need accompany a declaration of candidacy for any office for which compensation is on a per diem or per meeting attended basis((~~, nor for the filing of any declaration of candidacy by a write-in candidate~~)).

A candidate who lacks sufficient assets or income at the time of filing to pay the filing fee required by this section shall submit with his or her declaration of candidacy a nominating petition. The petition shall contain not less than a number of signatures of registered voters equal to the number of dollars of the filing fee. The signatures shall be of voters registered to vote within the jurisdiction of the office for which the candidate is filing.

When the candidacy is for:

(1) A legislative or judicial office that includes territory from more than one county, the fee shall be paid to the secretary of state for equal division between the treasuries of the counties comprising the district.

(2) A city or town office, the fee shall be paid to the county auditor who shall transmit it to the city or town clerk for deposit in the city or town treasury.

Sec. 3. RCW 29.62.180 and 1995 c 158 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) 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.

(2) The number of write-in votes cast for each office must be recorded and reported with the canvass for the election.

(3) Write-in votes cast for an individual candidate for an office need not be tallied if((~~, assuming all of these~~)) the total number of write-in votes ((~~were~~)) cast for the ((~~same person~~)) office is not greater than the number of votes cast for the candidate apparently nominated or elected, and the write-in votes could not have altered the outcome of the primary or election. In the case of write-in votes for state-wide office or for any office whose jurisdiction encompasses more than one county, write-in votes for an individual candidate must be tallied whenever the county auditor is notified by either the office of the secretary of state or another auditor in a multicounty jurisdiction that it appears that the write-in votes could alter the outcome of the primary or election.

(4) In the case of state-wide offices or jurisdictions that encompass more than one county, if the total number of write-in votes cast for an office within a county is greater than the number of votes cast for a candidate apparently nominated or elected in a primary or election, the auditor shall tally all write-in votes for individual candidates for that office and notify the office of the secretary of state and the auditors of the other counties within the jurisdiction, that the write-in votes for individual candidates should be tallied.

Sec. 4. RCW 29.54.050 and 1990 c 59 s 56 are each amended to read as follows:

A ballot is invalid and no votes on that ballot may be counted if it is found folded together with another ballot; or, except for an absentee ballot, it is marked so as to identify the voter.

Those parts of a ballot are invalid and no votes may be counted for those issues or offices where more votes are cast for the office or issue than are permitted by law; write-in votes do not contain all of the information required under RCW ((~~29.51.170~~)) 29.62.180; or that issue or office is not marked with sufficient definiteness to determine the voter's choice or intention. No write-in vote may be rejected due to a variation in the form of the name if the election board or the canvassing board can determine the issue for or against which or the person and the office for which the voter intended to vote.