BILL REQ. #: H-3204.1
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2012 Regular Session |
Prefiled 12/14/11. Read first time 01/09/12. Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.
BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:
THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state the
secretary of state shall submit to the qualified voters of the state
for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to
Article II, section 15 of the Constitution of the state of Washington
to read as follows:
Article II, section 15. Such vacancies as may occur in either
house of the legislature or in any partisan county elective office
shall be filled by appointment by the county legislative authority of
the county in which the vacancy occurs: Provided, That the person
appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative
district, county, or county commissioner or council district and the
same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective
officer whose office has been vacated, and shall be one of three
persons who shall be nominated by the county central committee of that
party for county office, and by the legislative district committee for
legislative office, and in case a majority of the members of the county
legislative authority do not agree upon the appointment within sixty
days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within thirty days
thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint
a person who shall be from the same legislative district, county, or
county commissioner or council district and of the same political party
as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has
been vacated, and the person so appointed shall hold office until his
or her successor is elected at the next general election, and has
qualified: Provided, That in case of a vacancy occurring after the
general election in a year that the office appears on the ballot and
before the start of the next term, the term of the successor who is of
the same party as the incumbent may commence once he or she has
qualified and shall continue through the term for which he or she was
elected: Provided, That in case of a vacancy occurring in the office
of joint senator, or joint representative, the vacancy shall be filled
from a list of three nominees selected by the ((state central))
legislative district committee, by appointment by the joint action of
the boards of county legislative authorities of the counties composing
the joint senatorial or joint representative district, the person
appointed to fill the vacancy must be from the same legislative
district and of the same political party as the legislator whose office
has been vacated, and in case a majority of the members of the county
legislative authority do not agree upon the appointment within sixty
days after the vacancy occurs, the governor shall within thirty days
thereafter, and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint
a person who shall be from the same legislative district and of the
same political party as the legislator whose office has been vacated.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause
notice of this constitutional amendment to be published at least four
times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal
newspaper in the state.