H-2244.1 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1673
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State of Washington 56th Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By House Committee on State Government (originally sponsored by Representatives Lambert, O'Brien, Thomas and Sullivan)
Read first time 03/02/1999.
AN ACT Relating to false political advertising; adding new sections to chapter 42.17 RCW; repealing RCW 42.17.530; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 42.17 RCW to read as follows:
It is a violation of this chapter for a person knowingly to sponsor with actual malice political advertising relating to a candidate that falsely represents that a candidate is the incumbent for the office sought when in fact the candidate is not the incumbent.
A violation of this section thirty or fewer days before a primary or general election is subject to double the maximum civil penalty provided for a violation of this chapter under RCW 42.17.390.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 42.17 RCW to read as follows:
It is a violation of this chapter for a person knowingly to sponsor with actual malice political advertising relating to a candidate that falsely represents that a candidate has the support or endorsement of any person or organization when in fact the candidate does not have such support or endorsement.
A violation of this section thirty or fewer days before a primary or general election is subject to double the maximum civil penalty provided for a violation of this chapter under RCW 42.17.390.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 42.17 RCW to read as follows:
It is a violation of this chapter for a person knowingly to sponsor with actual malice political advertising relating to a candidate that contains a false statement of material fact calculated to benefit or harm a candidate's campaign. Any violation of this section shall be proven by clear and convincing evidence.
A violation of this section thirty or fewer days before a primary or general election is subject to double the maximum civil penalty provided for a violation of this chapter under RCW 42.17.390.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. RCW 42.17.530 (False political advertising) and 1988 c 199 s 2 & 1984 c 216 s 3 are each repealed.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
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