S-1505.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 8207
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State of Washington 56th Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By Senator McCaslin
Read first time 02/16/1999. Referred to Committee on State & Local Government.
BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:
THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article II of the Constitution of the state of Washington by repealing section 4 thereof and by amending Article II, section 5 and Article II, section 6 of the state Constitution to read as follows:
Article II, section 4. Section 4, Article II of the Constitution of the state of Washington is repealed.
Article II, section 5. ((The next election of
the members of the house of representatives after the adoption of this
Constitution shall be on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November,
eighteen hundred and ninety, and thereafter, members of the house of
representatives shall be elected biennially and their term of office shall be
two years; and each election shall be on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November, unless otherwise changed by law.)) Members of the
house of representatives are elected for terms of four years with as near to
one-half of their number as is mathematically possible retiring every two
years. At the general election to be held on the first Tuesday next succeeding
the first Monday in November 2000, the candidate in each representative district
who receives the greatest number of votes is elected for a term of four years
and thereafter for a term of four years, and at the same election the winning
candidate in each representative district who receives the second highest
number of votes is elected for a term of two years and thereafter for a term of
four years.
Elections of the members of the house of representatives are on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in each even-numbered year unless otherwise changed by law. Persons elected to the house of representatives serve four-year terms unless they resign or seek other legislative office.
Article II, section 6. ((After the first
election)) The senators shall be elected by single districts of
convenient and contiguous territory, ((at the same time and)) in the
same manner as members of the house of representatives are required to be
elected; and no representative district ((shall)) may be divided
in the formation of a senatorial district. They shall be elected for ((the))
terms of ((four)) six years, ((one-half)) with
as near to one-third of their number retiring every two years. The
senatorial districts shall be numbered consecutively, and ((the senators
chosen at the first election had by virtue of this Constitution, in odd
numbered districts, shall go out of office at the end of the first year; and
the senators, elected in the even numbered districts, shall go out of office at
the end of the third year)) divided into three groups: The first group
to consist of every first district, the second to consist of every second
district, and the third to consist of every third district. For those
districts in which senators are to be elected in 2000 the term of office is
four years for each district in the first and second groups and six years for
each district in the third group; and thereafter in each district the term of
office is six years. For those districts in which senators are to be elected
in 2002, the term of office is four years for each district in the first group and
six years for each district in the second and third groups; and thereafter in
each district the term of office is six years.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of the foregoing constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state.
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