BILL REQ. #:  H-4497.1 

Read first time 01/24/2006.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to the election of judges; amending RCW 29A.24.181, 29A.24.191, and 29A.36.171; and providing a contingent effective date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 29A.24.181 and 2004 c 271 s 166 are each amended to read as follows:
     Filings for a nonpartisan office (other than judge of the supreme court or superintendent of public instruction) shall be reopened for a period of three normal business days, such three-day period to be fixed by the election officer with whom such declarations of candidacy are filed and notice thereof given by notifying press, radio, and television in the county and by such other means as may now or hereafter be provided by law, when:
     (1) A void in candidacy for such nonpartisan office occurs on or after the sixth Tuesday prior to a primary but prior to the sixth Tuesday before an election; or
     (2) ((A nominee for judge of the superior court eligible after a contested primary for a certificate of election by Article 4, section 29, Amendment 41 of the state Constitution, dies or is disqualified within the ten-day period immediately following the last day allotted for a candidate to withdraw; or
     (3))) A vacancy occurs in any nonpartisan office on or after the sixth Tuesday prior to a primary but prior to the sixth Tuesday before an election leaving an unexpired term to be filled by an election for which filings have not been held.
     The candidate receiving a plurality of the votes cast for that office in the general election shall be deemed elected.

Sec. 2   RCW 29A.24.191 and 2004 c 271 s 167 are each amended to read as follows:
     A scheduled election shall be lapsed, the office deemed stricken from the ballot, no purported write-in votes counted, and no candidate certified as elected, when:
     (1) In an election for judge of the supreme court or superintendent of public instruction, a void in candidacy occurs on or after the sixth Tuesday prior to a primary, public filings and the primary being an indispensable phase of the election process for such offices;
     (2) ((Except as otherwise specified in RCW 29A.24.181, a nominee for judge of the superior court entitled to a certificate of election pursuant to Article 4, section 29, Amendment 41 of the state Constitution dies or is disqualified on or after the sixth Tuesday prior to a primary;
     (3))) In other elections for nonpartisan office a void in candidacy occurs or a vacancy occurs involving an unexpired term to be filled on or after the sixth Tuesday prior to an election.

Sec. 3   RCW 29A.36.171 and 2004 c 271 s 170 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in RCW 29A.36.180 and in subsection (2) of this section, on the ballot at the general election for a nonpartisan office for which a primary was held, only the names of the candidate who received the greatest number of votes and the candidate who received the next greatest number of votes for that office shall appear under the title of that office, and the names shall appear in that order. If a primary was conducted, no candidate's name may be printed on the subsequent general election ballot unless he or she receives at least one percent of the total votes cast for that office at the preceding primary. On the ballot at the general election for any other nonpartisan office for which no primary was held, the names of the candidates shall be listed in the order determined under RCW 29A.36.131.
     (2) On the ballot at the general election for the office of ((justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, judge of the superior court, judge of the district court, or)) state superintendent of public instruction, if a candidate in a contested primary receives a majority of all the votes cast for that office ((or position)), only the name of that candidate may be printed under the title of the office ((for that position)).

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   This act takes effect January 1, 2007, if the proposed amendment to Article IV, section 29 of the state Constitution (HJR ....) is validly submitted to and is approved and ratified by the voters at a general election held in November 2006. If the proposed amendment is not approved and ratified, this act is void in its entirety.