H-1381 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 124
_______________________________________________
C 110 L 87
State of Washington 50th Legislature 1987 Regular Session
By House Committee on Constitution, Elections & Ethics (originally sponsored by Representatives Cole, Armstrong, Fisher, Crane, Leonard, Betrozoff, Pruitt, Fisch, Rust, Miller and P. King)
Read first time 1/30/87 and passed to Committee on Rules.
AN ACT Relating to the ballot order of candidates; amending RCW 29.18.022 and 29.18.045; and adding a new section to chapter 29.21 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 120, Laws of 1986 and RCW 29.18.022 are each amended to read as follows:
The names
of all candidates for partisan office, for the office of superintendent of
public instruction, and for all judicial offices ((except district court judge))
shall be rotated in each precinct in the manner specified by RCW 29.30.040,
29.30.340, and 29.30.440. The order of names of candidates for such offices on
sample ballots and on absentee ballots in primaries shall be determined in the
following manner:
(1) After the close of business on the last day for candidates to file for office, the officer with whom declarations of candidacy are filed shall, from among those filings made in person and by mail in accordance with RCW 29.18.045(2), determine by lot the order in which the names of those candidates shall appear on the sample and absentee ballots under the appropriate office heading. The determination shall be done publicly, and may be witnessed by the media and by any candidate desiring to do so.
(2) For the purposes of this section and RCW 29.18.045, "filing officer" means the officer with whom declarations of candidacy for an office must be filed.
Sec. 2. Section 2, chapter 120, Laws of 1986 and RCW 29.18.045 are each amended to read as follows:
Any candidate may mail his or her 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 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 on the last day of the filing
period shall be included with filings made in person during the filing period.
In partisan and judicial elections ((other than for district court judge,))
the filing officer shall determine by lot the order in which the names of those
candidates shall appear upon sample and absentee primary ballots.
(3) Any declaration of candidacy received by the filing officer after the close of business on the last day for candidates to file for office shall be rejected and returned to the candidate attempting to file it.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 29.21 RCW to read as follows:
The names of candidates for district court judge shall appear on primary and general election ballots in the following order:
(1) The names shall be rotated in each precinct in primaries in the manner specified by RCW 29.30.040, 29.30.340, and 29.30.440. The order of the names on sample ballots and on absentee ballots in primaries shall be determined by lot as specified in RCW 29.18.022.
(2) On the general election ballot and on absentee and sample ballots for the general election, the name of the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes for the position at the primary shall be listed first followed by the name of the candidate who receives the next greatest number of votes.