ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2704


State of Washington	65th Legislature	2018 Regular Session

By House State Government, Elections & Information Technology (originally sponsored by Representatives Hudgins, Muri, and McBride)

READ FIRST TIME 01/30/18.

AN ACT Relating to election ballot space and voter informations; amending RCW 29A.72.290, 29A.36.121, 29A.52.220, and 29A.32.121; reenacting and amending RCW 29A.36.161; adding a new section to chapter 29A.36 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that more and more information is being placed directly on the ballot, making it more complex. Careful management of space on each ballot will prevent the need for multiple page ballots and the accompanying printing costs, mailing costs, and voter return postage costs. Grouping partisan and nonpartisan offices, transferring required information to other parts of the mail ballot package, and streamlining ballot information will promote efficient use of ballot space.

The county auditor of each county shall print on the official ballots for the election at which initiative and referendum measures and measures for an advisory vote of the people are to be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection, the serial numbers and ballot titles certified by the secretary of state and the serial numbers and short descriptions of measures for an advisory vote of the people. They must appear under separate headings in the order of the serial numbers as follows:

(b) The following statement: "For a list of the people and organizations that donated to state and local candidates and ballot measure campaigns, visit www.pdc.wa.gov." The secretary of state may substitute such language as is necessary for accuracy and clarity and consistent with the intent of this section. Alternately, at the discretion of the county auditor or local election official, the statement required by this subsection (1)(b) may be printed in a prominent position on the ballot envelope and in the materials that accompany the ballot)).

(2) The ballot must have a clear delineation between the ballot instructions and the first ballot measure or office through the use of white space, illustration, shading, color, symbol, font size, or bold type. The secretary of state shall establish standards for ballot design and layout consistent with this section and RCW 29A.04.611.

(3) The questions of adopting constitutional amendments or any other state measure authorized by law to be submitted to the voters at that election must appear after the instructions and before any offices.

(4) In a year that president and vice president appear on the general election ballot, the names of candidates for president and vice president for each political party must be grouped together with a single response position for a voter to indicate his or her choice.

The major political party that 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 must appear first. Other major political parties must follow according to the votes cast for their nominees for president at the last presidential election. Independent candidates and minor parties must follow major parties and be listed in the order of their qualification with the secretary of state.

(1) 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; insurance commissioner; 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 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.

(2) The order of the positions or offices on a general election ballot shall be substantially the same as on a primary 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.

The following statement shall be displayed in a prominent position on the election page of each county web site, and printed in at least one of the following: The ballot envelope, the materials that accompany the ballot, or the voter pamphlet, if published: "For a list of the people and organizations that donated to state and local candidates and ballot measure campaigns, visit www.pdc.wa.gov." The secretary of state may substitute the language as necessary for accuracy and clarity and consistent with the intent of this section.

(1) No primary may be held for any single position in any nonpartisan office if, after the last day allowed for candidates to withdraw, there are no more than two candidates filed for the position. The county auditor shall as soon as possible notify all the candidates so affected that the office for which they filed will not appear on the primary ballot.

(2) No primary may be held for the office of commissioner of a park and recreation district, metropolitan park district, or for the office of cemetery district commissioner.

(3) Names of candidates for offices that do not appear on the primary ballot shall be printed upon the general election ballot in the manner specified by RCW 29A.36.131.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) The secretary of state must conduct a study to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of providing nonbinding advisory votes on the ballot. The study should include a comparison of the costs of preparing ballots in elections that include advisory votes and elections where advisory votes do not appear on the ballot. The study also should include an assessment of ballot design and consider the cost savings of removing advisory votes from ballots. The secretary of state must collect and analyze data and cost information from all counties for the study.

(2) By December 1, 2018, the secretary of state must report to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature on the study authorized in this section. The report must include a summary and analysis of the study, recommendations of ways to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of ballot production regarding the use of advisory votes in elections, and possible alternative voting methods for nonbinding ballot issues.

(1) The maximum number of words for statements submitted by candidates is as follows: State representative, ((one hundred words;)) state senator, judge of the superior court, judge of the court of appeals, justice of the supreme court, and all state offices voted upon throughout the state, except that of governor, two hundred words; president and vice president, United States senator, United States representative, and governor, three hundred words.