H-84                 _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 124

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representatives Cole, Armstrong, Fisher, Crane, Leonard, Betrozoff, Pruitt, Fisch, Rust, Miller and P. King

Read first time 1/19/87 and referred to Committee on Constitution, Elections & Ethics.

AN ACT Relating to the ballot order of candidates; amending RCW 29.18.022, 29.18.045, and 29.21.150; 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.

        Sec. 3.  Section 1, chapter 10, Laws of 1970 ex. sess. as amended by section 5, chapter 120, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. and RCW 29.21.150 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The name of the person who receives the greatest number of votes and of the person who receives the next greatest number of votes at the primary for a single nonpartisan position shall appear on the general election ballot under the designation therefor((:  PROVIDED, That)).

(2) In elections for justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals and judges of the superior court, and for state superintendent of public instruction, if any candidate in the primary receives a majority of all the votes cast for the position, only the name of the person receiving the highest vote shall be printed on the general election ballot under the designation for that position, followed by a space for the writing in of any other name by a voter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 29.21 RCW to read as follows:

          The names of candidates for district court judge shall be arranged on the general election official ballot, absentee ballots, and sample ballots in the order established by RCW 29.21.150(1).