[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to the blanket primary; and amending RCW 29.18.200, 29.30.081, 29.42.010, 29.62.010, and 29.62.090.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 29.18.200 and 1990 c 59 s 88 are each amended to read as follows:

Except as provided otherwise in chapter 29.19 RCW, primaries for partisan offices must be conducted as blanket primaries with private choice under the following procedures:

(1) A voter may indicate an affiliation with a party or identification as an independent voter, but all properly registered voters may still vote for their choice ((~~at any primary held under this title,~~)) for any candidate for each office, regardless of political affiliation ((~~and without a declaration of political faith or adherence on the part of the voter~~));

(2) Each voter determines in private, without any public disclosure at the polls, the candidates he or she chooses to vote for; and

(3) Each voter, without regard to any partisan or independent identification he or she made when voting for partisan offices, may vote for all nonpartisan offices and ballot measures on the ballot.

Sec. 2. RCW 29.30.081 and 1990 c 59 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) On the top of each ballot there shall be printed instructions directing the voters how to mark the ballot, including write-in votes. Next shall appear the following direction: "First, please indicate the political party of which you consider yourself to be a member, or choose 'Independent'." After the instructions and before the offices shall be placed the questions of adopting constitutional amendments or any other state measure authorized by law to be submitted to the voters at that election.

(2) The candidate or candidates of the major political party which received the highest number of votes from the electors of this state for the office of president of the United States at the last presidential election shall appear first following the appropriate office heading, the candidate or candidates of the other major political parties shall follow according to the votes cast for their nominees for president at the last presidential election, and independent candidates and the candidate or candidates of all other parties shall follow in the order of their qualification with the secretary of state.

(3) The names of candidates for president and vice-president for each political party shall be grouped together with a single response position for a voter to indicate his or her choice.

(4) All paper ballots and ballot cards shall be sequentially numbered in such a way to permit removal of such numbers without leaving any identifying marks on the ballot.

Sec. 3. RCW 29.42.010 and 1977 ex.s. c 329 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:

Each political party organization shall have the power to:

(1) Make its own rules and regulations;

(2) Call conventions;

(3) Elect delegates to conventions, state and national;

(4) Designate candidates to appear on the primary ballot under rules filed with the secretary of state at least sixty days before the primary;

(5) Fill vacancies on the ticket in accordance with RCW 29.18.150;

((~~(5)~~)) (6) Provide for the nomination of presidential electors; and

((~~(6)~~)) (7) Perform all functions inherent in such an organization((~~: PROVIDED, That only major political parties shall have the power to designate candidates to appear on the state primary election ballot as provided in RCW 29.18.150 as now or hereafter amended~~)).

Sec. 4. RCW 29.62.010 and 1990 c 59 s 62 are each amended to read as follows:

Every canvassing board or officer responsible for canvassing and certifying the returns of any primary or election shall:

(1) Adopt administrative rules to facilitate and govern the canvassing process in that jurisdiction;

(2) For each primary and election, prepare and sign a statement of the returns for each office, candidate, and issue voted on in that jurisdiction, categorized by the party or independent affiliation indicated by voters;

(3) If, at a partisan primary, two or more candidates of the same party receive the greatest, and identical, number of votes for an office, resolve the tie vote by lot;

(4) If, at a nonpartisan or judicial primary, two or more candidates receive the second greatest, and identical, number of votes for that office or position, resolve the tie vote by lot.

Sec. 5. RCW 29.62.090 and 1999 c 298 s 21 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Immediately after the official results of a state primary or general election in a county are ascertained, the county auditor or other election officer shall make an abstract of the number of registered voters in each precinct and of all the votes cast in the county at such state primary or general election for and against state measures and for each candidate for federal, state, and legislative office or for any other office which the secretary of state is required by law to canvass, categorized by the party or independent affiliation indicated by voters. The abstract shall be entered on blanks furnished by the secretary of state or on compatible computer printouts approved by the secretary of state, and transmitted to the secretary of state no later than the next business day following the certification by the county canvassing board.

(2) After each general election, the county auditor or other election officer shall provide to the secretary of state a report of the number of absentee ballots cast in each precinct for and against state measures and for each candidate for federal, state, and legislative office or for any other office which the secretary of state is required by law to canvass. The report may be included in the abstract required by this section or may be transmitted to the secretary of state separately, but in no event later than March 31 of the year following the election. Absentee ballot results may be incorporated into votes cast at the polls for each precinct or may be reported separately on a precinct-by-precinct basis.

(3) If absentee ballot results are not incorporated into votes cast at the polls, the county auditor or other election official may aggregate results from more than one precinct if the auditor, pursuant to rules adopted by the secretary of state, finds that reporting a single precinct's absentee ballot results would jeopardize the secrecy of a person's ballot. To the extent practicable, precincts for which absentee results are aggregated shall be contiguous.