BILL REQ. #:  S-1246.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/03/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to nonpartisan elections for the offices of secretary of state and county auditor; amending RCW 36.16.030, 29A.04.110, 29A.24.181, 29A.24.191, 29A.36.121, 29A.36.171, 29A.52.111, and 29A.52.231; and adding a new section to chapter 43.07 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.07 RCW to read as follows:
     Effective on the date that the newly elected secretary of state takes office after the 2008 general election, the office of the secretary of state shall be a nonpartisan office. Candidates seeking election for the office of secretary of state in the 2008 general election shall run as nonpartisan candidates and be qualified and elected as such.

Sec. 2   RCW 36.16.030 and 1996 c 108 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     Except as provided elsewhere in this section, in every county there shall be elected from among the qualified voters of the county a county assessor, a county auditor, a county clerk, a county coroner, three county commissioners, a county prosecuting attorney, a county sheriff and a county treasurer, except that in each county with a population of less than forty thousand no coroner shall be elected and the prosecuting attorney shall be ex officio coroner. Whenever the population of a county increases to forty thousand or more, the prosecuting attorney shall continue as ex officio coroner until a coroner is elected, at the next general election at which the office of prosecuting attorney normally would be elected, and assumes office as provided in RCW ((29.04.170)) 29A.20.040. In any county where the population has once attained forty thousand people and a current coroner is in office and a subsequent census indicates less than forty thousand people, the county legislative authority may maintain the office of coroner by resolution or ordinance. If the county legislative authority has not passed a resolution or enacted an ordinance to maintain the office of coroner, the elected coroner shall remain in office for the remainder of the term for which he or she was elected, but no coroner shall be elected at the next election at which that office would otherwise be filled and the prosecuting attorney shall be the ex officio coroner. In a county with a population of two hundred fifty thousand or more, the county legislative authority may replace the office of coroner with a medical examiner system and appoint a medical examiner as specified in RCW 36.24.190. The county legislative authority may enact a resolution or ordinance to declare the office of county auditor to be a nonpartisan office. Beginning six months after such a declaration, elections for county auditor shall be conducted in accordance with general law governing the election of nonpartisan offices. A noncharter county may have five county commissioners as provided in RCW 36.32.010 and 36.32.055 through 36.32.0558.

Sec. 3   RCW 29A.04.110 and 2005 c 2 s 4 (Initiative Measure No. 872) are each amended to read as follows:
     "Partisan office" means a public office for which a candidate may indicate a political party preference on his or her declaration of candidacy and have that preference appear on the primary and general election ballot in conjunction with his or her name. The following are partisan offices:
     (1) United States senator and United States representative;
     (2) All state offices, including legislative, except (a) judicial offices and (b) the office of superintendent of public instruction;
     (3) All county offices except (a) judicial offices ((and)); (b) those offices for which a county home rule charter provides otherwise; and (c) the county auditor, if the position is declared to be a nonpartisan office by the county legislative authority.

Sec. 4   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, secretary of state, 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)) candidate 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. 5   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 statewide nonpartisan office, 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. 6   RCW 29A.36.121 and 2004 c 271 s 129 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The positions or offices on a primary consolidated ballot shall be arranged in substantially the following order: United States senator; United States representative; governor; lieutenant governor; secretary of state; state treasurer; state auditor; attorney general; commissioner of public lands; superintendent of public instruction; insurance commissioner; state senator; state representative; county officers; justices of the supreme court; judges of the court of appeals; judges of the superior court; and judges of the district court. For all other jurisdictions on the primary consolidated ballot, the offices in each jurisdiction shall be grouped together and be in the order of the position numbers assigned to those offices, if any.
     (b)(i) The positions or offices on a primary party ballot must be arranged in substantially the following order: United States senator; United States representative; governor; lieutenant governor; ((secretary of state;)) state treasurer; state auditor; attorney general; commissioner of public lands; insurance commissioner; state senator; state representative; and partisan county officers. For all other jurisdictions on the primary party ballot, the offices in each jurisdiction must be grouped together and be in the order of the position numbers assigned to those offices, if any.
     (ii) The positions or offices on a primary nonpartisan ballot must be arranged in substantially the following order: Secretary of state; superintendent of public instruction; justices of the supreme court; judges of the court of appeals; judges of the superior court; and judges of the district court. For all other jurisdictions on the primary nonpartisan ballot, the offices in each jurisdiction must be grouped together and be in the order of the position numbers assigned to those offices, if any.
     (2) The order of the positions or offices on an election ballot shall be substantially the same as on a primary consolidated ballot except that state ballot issues must be placed before all offices. The offices of president and vice president of the United States shall precede all other offices on a presidential election ballot. The positions on a ballot to be assigned to ballot measures regarding local units of government shall be established by the secretary of state by rule.
     (3) The political party or independent candidacy of each candidate for partisan office shall be indicated next to the name of the candidate on the primary and election ballot. A candidate shall file a written notice with the filing officer within three business days after the close of the filing period designating the political party to be indicated next to the candidate's name on the ballot if either: (a) The candidate has been nominated by two or more minor political parties or independent conventions; or (b) the candidate has both filed a declaration of candidacy declaring an affiliation with a major political party and been nominated by a minor political party or independent convention. If no written notice is filed the filing officer shall give effect to the party designation shown upon the first document filed. A candidate may be deemed nominated by a minor party or independent convention only if all documentation required by chapter 29A.20 RCW has been timely filed.

Sec. 7   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, secretary of state, 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.

Sec. 8   RCW 29A.52.111 and 2004 c 271 s 173 are each amended to read as follows:
     Candidates for the following offices shall be nominated at partisan primaries held pursuant to the provisions of this chapter:
     (1) Congressional offices;
     (2) All state offices except (a) judicial offices ((and)); (b) the secretary of state; (c) the office of superintendent of public instruction; and (d) the county auditor, if the position is declared to be a nonpartisan office by the county legislative authority;
     (3) All county offices except (a) judicial offices and (b) those offices where a county home rule charter provides otherwise.

Sec. 9   RCW 29A.52.231 and 2004 c 271 s 174 are each amended to read as follows:
     The offices of superintendent of public instruction, justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, judge of the superior court, and judge of the district court shall be nonpartisan and the candidates therefor shall be nominated and elected as such.
     Effective on the date that the newly elected secretary of state takes office after the 2008 general election, the office of the secretary of state shall be a nonpartisan office. Candidates seeking election for the office of secretary of state in the 2008 general election shall run as nonpartisan candidates and be qualified and elected as such.
     The office of county auditor shall be nonpartisan, if the position is declared to be a nonpartisan office by the county legislative authority.
     All city, town, and special purpose district elective offices shall be nonpartisan and the candidates therefor shall be nominated and elected as such.