HOUSE BILL REPORT

EHB 2797

BYRepresentatives R. Fisher, McLean, Horn, Anderson and Todd

Rearranging provisions relating to candidacy and changing provisions relating to ballot forms and voting equipment.

House Committe on State Government

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  (9)

      Signed by Representatives Todd, Chair; Anderson, Vice Chair; McLean, Ranking Republican Member; R. Fisher, Hankins, R. King, Morris, O'Brien and Silver.

House Staff:Kenneth Hirst (786-7105)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 6, 1990

BACKGROUND:

The Election Code specifies the forms to be used for filing for elective office.  It requires position numbers to be established for offices at least 10 days before the filing period for those positions.  When filing for office, a candidate must specify his or her name as the candidate wishes it to appear on the ballot.  The code prohibits persons from using false or misleading names for this purpose and generally prohibits a candidate from using any title designating his or her occupation.

The names of candidates for a nonpartisan office, other than a judicial office or the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, must appear on the primary ballot in alphabetical order.  The order of the names of candidates for the office of freeholder are to be rotated at the polls.

The Election Code provides detailed instructions for designing the layout for ballots to be used when voting by paper ballot, voting machine, or voting device. Procedures specifically tailored to the use of each of these means of voting are prescribed by the code.  Procedures to be used in tallying votes and sealing and transporting containers of voted ballots are also prescribed by the code.  The secretary of state is authorized, within certain guidelines established by law, to examine and test voting equipment.  Counties may use only voting equipment certified as being approved for use in this state.

SUMMARY:

Filing for Office.  The provisions of the Election Code regarding filing for office are consolidated into a new chapter in the code.  Various procedural details regarding filing for office are removed from the code (such as the format for declarations of candidacy and means of differentiating, on the ballot, candidates with similar last names) and the secretary of state is granted the authority to adopt rules regarding them.  Provisions are repealed that establish a procedure for requesting a meeting with the elections officer regarding misleading or similar names of candidates.  No candidate may use a nickname on the ballot that denotes the candidate's position on issues or political affiliation.

If a short term for an office is created after the close of the filing period for any office, the declarations of candidacy and fees filed for the office during the normal filing period apply to the short term for the office as well.  There is no filing fee for a write-in candidacy.  The county auditor may permit a candidate for precinct committee officer to withdraw his or her candidacy at any time under certain circumstances.

Order of Candidates' Names.  The order of the names of candidates for a city, town, or district office on the official primary ballot, as well as on the sample and absentee ballots, is to be determined by lot.  If a primary is not conducted for such a nonpartisan office, the order of the names of the candidates on the general election ballot is determined by lot.  The names of candidates for the position of freeholder are no longer required to be rotated at the primary.

Position numbers must be established for multiple offices with the same name, district number, or title 30 days (rather than 10 days) before the filing period for the offices.  With the exception of those for the justices of the Supreme Court, the position numbers assigned must reflect, whenever possible, the numbers used to designate those positions at the last full-term election for the offices.

Voting Equipment and Ballots.  The terms "ballot,"  "voting system," "voting device," and "vote tallying system" are given more general definitions and the provisions of the Election Code specifying the layout or testing of these items and the procedures to be followed in using them are consolidated and made more general in nature.  The authority of the secretary of state to establish rules regarding such testing, layout, and procedures is expanded.

Equipment and Tallies.  The secretary of state must adopt rules to establish standards for the design and production of ballots, testing the programming of vote tallying software for specific elections, the preparation and use of each type of voting system, procedures to be used at counting centers using tallying systems, and the accurate tabulation and canvassing of ballots.  The secretary must also adopt rules to ensure the secrecy of a voter's ballot when a small number of ballots are counted and rules governing the transportation of sealed containers of voted ballots or sealed voting devices.  The secretary may by rule provide exceptions to the general requirement that the tabulation of ballots at a polling place or counting center proceed, on an election or primary day, until all of the ballots cast at the polls have been tabulated.

Within certain standards established by law, the secretary must also provide for the examination and testing of voting systems for certification for use in this state. Except for functions or capabilities unique to this state, the secretary may not certify for use in Washington a voting device or vote tallying system that has not been tested, certified, and used in at least one other state or election jurisdiction.  The secretary may rely on the results of independent design, engineering, and performance evaluations in the examination of voting systems if the source and scope of these evaluations are specified by rule.

A system that is purchased or leased by a county must pass an acceptance test prescribed by the secretary by rule to demonstrate that it is identical to that certified by the secretary and that it is operating correctly as delivered to the county.

Ballot Format.  The provisions of law specifying many of the details regarding the layout of and printing on ballots are repealed.  The provisions listing the order of the candidates in a primary or election are retained although the placement of the names of candidates for the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is altered.  These candidates are now to be listed near the candidates for other state-wide offices.  Provisions of law providing for the canvassing of votes for multiple, unnumbered positions of an office at a single election are repealed.  The secretary must adopt rules regarding the preparation of sample ballots by class AA counties.

Polling Place Procedures.  Deliberately impeding other voters from casting their votes by refusing to leave a voting booth or device is a misdemeanor.  Provisions of law are repealed that prohibit a voter from remaining in voting machine booth more than two minutes or in a voting compartment more than five minutes unless no other voters are waiting to vote.  Precinct election officers may provide assistance to any voter who requests it.  Although a voter may take materials into a voting booth to assist the voter, the voter may not use the material to electioneer and may not leave it at the polls.

Sealed containers of voted ballots may be picked up from a polling place for delivery to a counting center more than once during a primary or election (rather than once before the closing of the polls but after 2:00 p.m. and once after the closing of the polls, as under current law).  Unused ballots must be identified as such and returned to the auditor rather than, as under current law, being destroyed at the polling place.

Provisions of law are repealed that require the stringing of paper ballots for the canvass; prohibit the counting of paper ballots during polling hours unless at least 10 ballots are to be counted; require returns to be sent by certified mail to the county auditor; require the keeping of two sets of poll lists and related material; establish the forms of the oaths to be signed and sent with counted ballots; and require the posting of unofficial returns.

Implementing Rules.  The secretary must publish proposed implementing rules by December 15, 1991.

Other.  A primary is no longer required to be held if only two candidates file for the office of school board director in a school district of the first class within a city with a population of 400,000 or more in a Class AA county.

Following a nonpartisan primary, a candidate's name may be printed on the general election ballot only if the candidate received at least one percent of the total votes cast for the office (rather than five percent, as under current law).  The length of time given to the secretary of state for certifying the names of candidates for placement on primary or election ballots is shortened.  An election official may limit the number of observers during a recount under certain circumstances.  Although instruction is still required for precinct election officials and persons working in counting centers, certificates of instruction are no longer required.

Provisions of the Election Code are repealed that require local governments to certify to the auditor the list of offices to be voted on and require the governor to issue a proclamation regarding the state-wide offices to be voted on; require the retesting of vote tallying equipment just before the equipment is used to count votes; and prescribe certain methods for transporting sealed containers of voted ballots.

County auditors may hire persons to prepare and maintain voting systems. Repealed is a requirement that custodians of voting machines be selected from political parties in certain instances.

Fiscal Note:      Requested January 17, 1990.

Effective Date:The provisions of the bill, except those requiring the secretary of state to publish proposed implementing rules, take effect on July 1, 1992.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    John Pearson, Office of the Secretary of State.

House Committee - Testified Against:      No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    (1) The bill, a combination of SHB 2008 and HB 2549 from the Election Code Task Force, eliminates the incredible minutia found in several chapters of the Election Code and authorizes the secretary of state to adopt rules detailing certain procedures.  The policies governing those procedures are maintained in the law.  (2) Where policy changes have been made by the bill, they have been made to provide uniformity in the election process.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None.