CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5182

68TH LEGISLATURE

2023 REGULAR SESSION

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5182

AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

BySenate State Government & Elections (originally sponsored by Senators Nguyen, Hunt, Boehnke, Keiser, MacEwen, Nobles, Shewmake, Trudeau, C. Wilson, and J. Wilson)

AN ACT Relating to procedures and deadlines for candidate filing; amending RCW 29A.24.050, 29A.24.040, 29A.24.070, 29A.24.081, 29A.24.091, 29A.24.131, and 29A.32.230; reenacting and amending RCW 29A.16.040; adding a new section to chapter 29A.24 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 29A.32 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 29A.24.050 and 2011 c 349 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

Except where otherwise provided by this title, declarations of candidacy for the following offices shall be filed ((during regular business hours))between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. with the filing officer beginning the first Monday ((two weeks before Memorial day))in May and ending the following Friday in the year in which the office is scheduled to be voted upon:

(1) Offices that are scheduled to be voted upon for full terms or both full terms and short terms at, or in conjunction with, a state general election; and

(2) Offices where a vacancy, other than a short term, exists that has not been filled by election and for which an election to fill the vacancy is required in conjunction with the next state general election.

This section supersedes all other statutes that provide for a different filing period for these offices.

Sec. 2. RCW 29A.24.040 and 2011 c 349 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

A candidate may file ((his or her))a declaration of candidacy for an office by electronic means on a system specifically designed and authorized by a filing officer to accept filings.

(1) Filings that are received electronically must capture all information specified in RCW 29A.24.031 (1) through (4).

(2) Electronic filing may begin at ((9:00))8:00 a.m. the first day of the filing period and continue through ((4:00))5:00 p.m. the last day of the filing period.

Sec. 3. RCW 29A.24.070 and 2009 c 106 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Declarations of candidacy shall be filed with the following filing officers:

(((1)))(a) The secretary of state for declarations of candidacy for statewide offices, United States senate, ((and)) United States house of representatives, Washington state legislature, court of appeals, and superior court. The secretary of state shall establish contingency plans, consistent with this subsection, to support candidate filing for state legislative candidates who have not yet filed their declaration of candidacy in the case that a localized or system-wide internet outage or a disruption to the secretary of state's candidate filing website occurs during the two hours immediately preceding the filing deadline. The secretary of state shall immediately process all filings received pursuant to the contingency plan;

(((2) The secretary of state for declarations of candidacy for the state legislature, the court of appeals, and the superior court when the candidate is seeking office in a district comprised of voters from two or more counties;

(3)))(b) The county auditor for all other offices. For any nonpartisan office, other than judicial offices and school director in joint districts, where voters from a district comprising more than one county vote upon the candidates, a declaration of candidacy shall be filed with the county auditor of the county in which a majority of the registered voters of the district reside. For school directors in joint school districts, the declaration of candidacy shall be filed with the county auditor of the county designated by the superintendent of public instruction as the county to which the joint school district is considered as belonging under RCW 28A.323.040.

(2) Each official with whom declarations of candidacy are filed under this section, within one business day following the closing of the applicable filing period, shall transmit to the public disclosure commission the information required in RCW 29A.24.031 (1) through (4) for each declaration of candidacy filed ((in his or her))with the official's office during such filing period or a list containing the name of each candidate who files such a declaration ((in his or her))with the official's office during such filing period together with a precise identification of the position sought by each such candidate and the date on which each such declaration was filed. Such official, within three days following ((his or her))the receipt of any letter withdrawing a person's name as a candidate, shall also forward a copy of such withdrawal letter to the public disclosure commission.

Sec. 4. RCW 29A.24.081 and 2011 c 10 s 27 are each amended to read as follows:

Any candidate may mail ((his or her))a declaration of candidacy for an office to the filing officer. Such declarations of candidacy shall be processed by the filing officer in the following manner:

(1) Any declaration received by the filing officer by mail before the tenth business day immediately preceding the first day for candidates to file for office shall be returned to the candidate submitting it, together with a notification that the declaration of candidacy was received too early to be processed. The candidate shall then be permitted to resubmit ((his or her))the candidate's declaration of candidacy during the filing period.

(2) Any properly executed declaration of candidacy received by mail on or after the tenth business day immediately preceding the first day for candidates to file for office and before ((the close of business))5:00 p.m. on the last day of the filing period shall be included with filings made in person during the filing period.

(3) Any declaration of candidacy received by the filing officer after ((the close of business))5:00 p.m. on the last day for candidates to file for office shall be rejected and returned to the candidate attempting to file it.

Sec. 5. RCW 29A.24.091 and 2018 c 187 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A filing fee of ten dollars shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for any office with a fixed annual salary of one thousand dollars or less. A filing fee equal to one percent of the annual salary of the office at the time of filing shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for any office with a fixed annual salary of more than one thousand dollars per annum. No filing fee need accompany a declaration of candidacy for precinct committee officer or any office for which compensation is on a per diem or per meeting attended basis, or any declaration of candidacy for a write-in candidate filed after the close of filing and more than eighteen days prior to a primary or election.

(2) A filing fee of twenty-five dollars shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for write-in candidates for any office with a fixed annual salary of one thousand dollars or less if filed eighteen days or less prior to a primary or election.

(3) A filing fee equal to one percent of the annual salary of the office at the time of filing shall accompany a declaration of candidacy for write-in candidates for any office with a fixed annual salary of more than one thousand dollars per annum if filed eighteen days or less prior to a primary or election.

(4) A candidate who lacks sufficient assets or income at the time of filing to pay the filing fee required by this section shall submit with ((his or her))the candidate's declaration of candidacy a filing fee petition. The petition shall contain not less than a number of signatures of registered voters equal to the number of dollars of the filing fee. The signatures shall be of voters registered to vote within the jurisdiction of the office for which the candidate is filing.

((When the candidacy is for:

(d) A city or town office, the fee shall be paid to the county auditor who shall transmit it to the city or town clerk for deposit in the city or town treasury.))

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 29A.24 RCW to read as follows:

Fees paid when filing for office must be collected by the filing officer and distributed as follows:

(1) When the candidacy is for a statewide office, the United States senate, the United States house of representatives, or the state supreme court, the fee shall be retained by the secretary of state;

(2) When the candidacy is for a Washington state legislative, state court of appeals, or a superior court judicial office, the fees shall be distributed to the office of the county auditor or auditors whose counties comprise the district. When the district includes multiple counties, the distribution must be an equal division between the counties comprising the district;

(3) When the candidacy is for a city or town office, the county auditor shall transmit fees to the city or town clerk for deposit in the city or town treasury; and

(4) When the candidacy is for any other office, the fees shall be retained by the office of the filing officer.

Sec. 7. RCW 29A.24.131 and 2011 c 349 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

A candidate may withdraw ((his or her))the candidate's declaration of candidacy at any time before ((the close of business))5:00 p.m. on the Monday following the last day for candidates to file under RCW 29A.24.050 by filing, with the officer with whom the declaration of candidacy was filed, a signed request that ((his or her))the candidate's name not be printed on the ballot. There shall be no withdrawal period for declarations of candidacy filed during special filing periods held under this title. No filing fee may be refunded to any candidate who withdraws under this section. Notice of the deadline for withdrawal of candidacy and that the filing fee is not refundable shall be given to each candidate at the time ((he or she))the candidate files.

Sec. 8. RCW 29A.16.040 and 2011 c 349 s 5 and 2011 c 10 s 26 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

The county legislative authority of each county in the state shall divide the county into election precincts and establish the boundaries of the precincts.

(1) Precinct boundaries may be altered at any time as long as sufficient time exists prior to a given election for the necessary procedural steps to be honored. Except as permitted under subsection (3) of this section, no precinct changes may be made during the period starting ((fourteen))seven days prior to the first day for candidates to file for the primary election and ending with the day of the general election.

(2) The county legislative authority may establish by ordinance a limitation on the maximum number of active registered voters in each precinct within its jurisdiction. The number may be less than the number established by law, but in no case may the number exceed one thousand five hundred active registered voters.

(3) The county auditor shall temporarily adjust precinct boundaries when a city or town annexes unincorporated territory to the city or town, or whenever unincorporated territory is incorporated as a city or town. The adjustment must be made as soon as possible after the approval of the annexation or incorporation. The temporary adjustment must be limited to the minimum changes necessary to accommodate the addition of the territory to the city or town, or to establish the eligible voters within the boundaries of the new city or town, and remains in effect only until precinct boundary modifications reflecting the annexation or incorporation are adopted by the county legislative authority.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 29A.32 RCW to read as follows:

The secretary may, by rule, set a deadline for submission of candidate statements and photographs for inclusion in the statewide voters' pamphlet. The deadline for submission of candidate statements and photographs must be not sooner than 11 days immediately following the deadline for filing declarations of candidacy under RCW 29A.24.050.

Sec. 10. RCW 29A.32.230 and 2003 c 111 s 815 are each amended to read as follows:

The county auditor or, if applicable, the city clerk of a first-class or code city shall, in consultation with the participating jurisdictions, adopt and publish administrative rules necessary to facilitate the provisions of any ordinance authorizing production of a local voters' pamphlet. Any amendment to such a rule shall also be adopted and published. Copies of the rules shall identify the date they were adopted or last amended and shall be made available to any person upon request. One copy of the rules adopted by a county auditor and one copy of any amended rules shall be submitted to the county legislative authority. One copy of the rules adopted by a city clerk and one copy of any amended rules shall be submitted to the city legislative authority. These rules shall include but not be limited to the following:

(1) Deadlines for decisions by cities, towns, or special taxing districts on being included in the pamphlet;

(2) Limits on the length and deadlines for submission of arguments for and against each measure;

(3) The basis for rejection of any explanatory or candidates' statement or argument deemed to be libelous or otherwise inappropriate. Any statements by a candidate shall be limited to those about the candidate himself or herself;

(4) Limits on the length ((and deadlines for submission)) of candidates' statements;

(5) Deadlines for submission of candidates' statements not sooner than 11 days following the deadline for filing declarations of candidacy under RCW 29A.24.050;

(6) An appeal process in the case of the rejection of any statement or argument.

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