6183 AAS 05/14/01 S2789.1
SB 6183 - S AMD 399
By Senators Swecker, Snyder and Kohl-Welles
ADOPTED 05/14/01
On page 21, after line 13, insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 29. Nothing in this act may be construed by the secretary of state or a county auditor to mean that a voter may cast more than one vote for candidates for a given office.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 30. (1) The legislature recognizes that this act significantly changes the way in which a primary for partisan office shall be conducted, and thus it intends to ease the transition and allow any primary held prior to July 1, 2002, to be implemented with existing systems currently in use by each county auditor.
(2) Notwithstanding any language to the contrary found elsewhere in this act or in existing statute, only a voter who chooses not to affiliate with any major political party may vote for a minor political party or independent candidate. Any vote for a minor political party or independent candidate by a voter who chooses to affiliate with a major political party shall not be tabulated or reported. The name of a minor political party or independent candidate shall not appear on the general election ballot unless the candidate receives at least three percent of all votes cast for candidates for that office by voters who choose not to affiliate with any major political party.
(3) Each county auditor may design a ballot and utilize procedures other than those detailed in this act when conducting a partisan primary provided that the design of the ballot and the procedures are specifically allowed by a rule adopted by the secretary of state under chapter 34.05 RCW, and that the following criteria are met:
(a) A voter shall have the option to affiliate with a major political party, or to not affiliate with any major political party;
(b) Voter privacy, including selection of party affiliation, is preserved;
(c) A voter who affiliates with a major political party may only cast votes for partisan office for candidates that indicated that same‑party affiliation when filing a declaration of candidacy, and any votes cast for a candidate that indicated a different party affiliation when filing a declaration of candidacy shall not be tabulated and reported;
(d) A voter who chooses not to affiliate with any major political party may vote for any candidate regardless of the candidate's political party designation, and votes cast by such voter shall be tabulated and reported; and
(e) Votes cast for a candidate by voters who choose to affiliate with a major political party shall be reported separately from votes cast for the same candidate by voters who choose not to affiliate with any major political party.
(4) This section expires July 1, 2002."
Renumber the remaining sections consecutively and correct any internal references accordingly.
SB 6183 - S AMD 399
By Senators Swecker, Snyder and Kohl-Welles
ADOPTED 05/14/01
On page 1, line 6 of the title, after "Title 29 RCW;" insert "creating new sections;"
On page 1, line 7 of the title, after "29.30.040;" insert "providing an expiration date;"
EFFECT: (1) Clarifies that nothing in this act will allow voters to engage in "selective overvoting" by voting for a major party candidate and a minor party candidate in the same office.
(2) Provides the secretary of state and the county auditors with flexibility in the 2001 election cycle to adopt rules that allow this primary to be implemented with existing systems, thereby allowing time for appropriate software and hardware upgrades. Only "unaffiliated" voters will be allowed to vote for minor party and independent candidates, and those candidates must receive 3% of all votes cast by "unaffiliated" voters for that office in order to advance to the general election. Any rules adopted pursuant to this section that alter election procedures must adhere to the principles but not the specifics as set forth in the underlying bill. This section expires on July 1, 2002.
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