Washington Administrative Code

The county auditor, prosecuting attorney, and chair of the county legislative authority, or designees as per chapter 29A.60 RCW, shall be responsible for the performance of all duties of the county canvassing board, as set forth in chapters 29A.40 and 29A.60 RCW, and the rules on…

If a county canvassing board member cannot attend a county canvassing board meeting due to an emergency, as defined in the county canvassing board's manual, a designated representative may be appointed according to RCW 29A.60.140. If a designee cannot be appointed, the member may…

Following each general election, the county auditor must determine the number of voters participating in the general election for each taxing district in the county and provide this number to each district. Districts may use that number to determine the number of votes required f…

(1) Prior to the official canvass, the county auditor shall prepare a preliminary abstract of votes for certifying the election, listing the number of registered voters, votes cast, and individual declared write-in candidate tallies required by chapter 29A.60 RCW. The preliminary…

All activities of the canvassing board shall be open to the public, although the board may limit the number of persons observing any aspect of the process whenever, in the judgment of the board, it is necessary to do so to preserve order and to safeguard the integrity of the proc…

The county canvassing board shall meet and canvass all ballots. Upon completion of this canvass ten days after a special election, fourteen days after a primary, and twenty-one days after a general election, the county auditor shall present the auditor's abstract of votes, which …

(1) The disposition of provisional ballots is governed by WAC 434-262-032. The county canvassing board must reject any ballot cast by a voter who was not qualified to vote, or for other reasons required by law or administrative rule. A log must be kept of all voted ballots reject…

Upon receipt of the provisional ballot, including provisional ballots from other counties or states, the county auditor must investigate the circumstances surrounding the provisional ballot prior to certification of the primary or election. A voted ballot received from an unregis…

If the ballot of a protected records voter must be presented to the county canvassing board, the canvassing board must review the ballot in private executive session or take other necessary steps to ensure the privacy of the protected records voter.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.0…

The county canvassing board shall examine the auditor's abstract of votes and shall verify that all of the precinct ballot totals have been included in the abstract, and that the subtotals and county-wide totals for registered voters and votes cast are an accurate reflection of t…

(1) If the county canvassing board, during the verification process, discovers that errors or discrepancies exist in the auditor's abstract of votes, the board shall investigate those errors or discrepancies. They shall be empowered to take whatever corrective steps a majority of…

If the canvassing board decides to take corrective action with respect to errors or discrepancies described in WAC 434-262-050, the canvassing board shall prepare a written narrative of the errors or discrepancies discovered, the cause of those errors, if known, and the correctiv…

(1) Upon completion of the verification of the auditor's abstract of votes and the documentation of any corrective action taken, the county canvassing board shall sign a certification that:(a) States the abstract is a full, true, and correct representation of the votes cast for t…

Immediately following the certification of the returns of any primary, special, or general election in which state measures, federal or state offices, or legislative or judicial offices whose jurisdiction encompasses more than one county appeared on the ballot, the county auditor…

The secretary of state shall ensure that all material required to be submitted pursuant to state law and these regulations has been included in the copy of the county canvass report transmitted to his or her office. In the event the secretary of state determines that the report i…

Upon receipt of a complete copy of the county canvass report from a county auditor, the secretary of state shall proceed to include the results from that abstract in the official canvass of the primary, special, or general election. This shall be accomplished by adding the certif…

In an audit, the county auditor must compare the paper records with the electronic results cast on the direct recording electronic devices.(1) The audits required by RCW 29A.60.185 must use the same three races or issues, randomly selected by lot, for every direct recording elect…

Pursuant to RCW 29A.60.240, upon completion of the canvass of each county auditor's abstract of votes and no later than seventeen days following the primary, the secretary of state shall certify to the appropriate county auditors the returns for all state ballot measures, federal…

Pursuant to RCW 29A.60.250, upon completion of the canvass of each county's abstract of votes and no later than thirty days following a general election, the secretary of state shall certify to the governor, president of the senate, and speaker of the house of representatives the…

Insofar as practicable, the procedures governing the certification of special primaries by the secretary of state shall be the same as those governing the certification of primaries, and the procedures governing the certification of special elections shall be the same as those go…

When a write-in candidate files a declaration in a multicounty jurisdiction, the filing officer shall notify the affected counties. The filing officer must combine the write-in totals from all affected counties to determine if the total write-in votes must be tallied for individu…

In a local ballot measure election for a multicounty jurisdiction, the county auditor from the county with the greatest number of registered voters in the jurisdiction must combine the final results for that ballot measure from all relevant counties.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.…

(1) In all cases of write-in votes the canvassing board shall exercise all reasonable efforts to determine the voter's intent.The board shall determine if votes with name and spelling variations are votes for a declared write-in candidate.(2) If a declared write-in candidate qual…

All records and materials are to be maintained for a period of sixty days after certification of each election. Where the election involves federal offices the records and material must be kept for twenty-two months from the date of the election.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.6…

The purpose of these rules is to adopt an administrative complaint procedure mandated by 52 U.S.C. § 21112, relating only to state implementation of Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, 116 Stat. 1666 (2002), for both state and federal elections. Th…

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:(1) "Complainant" means the person who files a complaint under this chapter.(2) "Election" means a special, primary or general election.(3) "Respondent" means any state or local election official …

Any person who believes that there is a violation of any provision of Title III, including a violation which has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur, by any state or local election official may file a complaint with the secretary under this chapter. All complaints must:(…

All complaints filed pursuant to this chapter shall be treated as brief adjudicative proceedings, and the secretary adopts RCW 34.05.482 through 34.05.494 to govern such proceedings. The secretary has determined that the interests involved in such complaints do not warrant the pr…

(1) The secretary may process the complaint in any of the following ways:(a) The secretary may dismiss the complaint, and issue a final determination, if it:(i) Does not comply with WAC 434-263-020;(ii) Does not, on its face, allege a violation of Title III; or(iii) Alleges a cla…

(1) The secretary shall designate a person to act as a presiding officer of a brief adjudicative hearing. A presiding officer may be:(a) The assistant or deputy secretary;(b) The director of elections;(c) An assistant director of the elections division;(d) Any county auditor; or(…

(1) The presiding officer shall render a written initial decision within seventy days after the complaint is filed, unless the complainant consents to a longer period. The determination shall include a statement as to whether, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, a violati…

(1) Any aggrieved party may request an administrative review of the initial determination. If the secretary does not receive a request, in writing, for an administrative review within twenty-one days of service of the initial determination then the initial determination automatic…

(1) If a final determination is not rendered within ninety days after the filing of the complaint, or within such additional time to which the complainant may consent, then the complaint shall be transferred to a board of arbitration, which must resolve the complaint within sixty…

All final determinations pursuant to WAC 434-263-070 shall be posted on the secretary's website for at least ninety days.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 08-05-120, § 434-263-090, filed 2/19/08, effective 3/21/08. Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.610. WSR 04-16-037, § 434…

It is not necessary to exhaust any administrative remedies available under this chapter in order to pursue any other legal action provided by law.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.610. WSR 04-16-037, § 434-263-100, filed 7/27/04, effective 8/27/04.]

This chapter applies to all contests subject to a recount pursuant to chapter 29A.64 RCW and to manual and machine recounts unless otherwise noted. In addition, each county auditor must promulgate written procedures regarding the conduct of a recount.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A…

(1) A recount is the process for retabulating the votes, including write-ins, for a specific office or issue on all valid ballots cast in a primary or election.(2) All questions of voter registration, voter qualification, and voter intent previously considered during the original…

(1) Observers must be permitted to witness activities associated with the recount.(2) In addition to the admittance of two observers for each side of a recount as required by RCW 29A.64.041, a county canvassing board is encouraged to request additional observers from each of the …

In a machine recount of votes cast on digital scan ballots, the tabulating equipment must be programmed to identify all ballots that include an undervoted office or ballot measure subject to the recount. All ballots identified must be inspected to confirm that no vote was cast. I…

Machine recounts must be conducted by reloading individual ballot data packs or cartridges. The county auditor must verify all data packs or cartridges have been loaded.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 07-12-032, § 434-264-060, filed 5/30/07, effective 6/30/07.]

In a manual recount, the county auditor must compare the paper records with the electronic results cast on direct recording electronic devices.(1) Written procedures to perform manual recounts of direct recording electronic devices must be promulgated by the county auditor. The p…

For optical and digital scan ballots in which voter intent was not previously determined, the validity of the vote will be determined according to the statewide standards on determining voter intent manual required by WAC 434-261-086.The county canvassing board must make the fina…

All ballots must be sorted by precinct. If a results report from the original count or the previous machine recount can be produced by batch, ballots may be sorted by batch instead of precinct.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611, 29A.04.620, and 29A.04.630. WSR 11-24-064, § 434-…

Each county auditor shall establish the number of counting boards to conduct the recount. Each board shall be comprised of no less than two members, made up of:(1) One representative from each of the two major political parties; or(2) Two staff persons.[Statutory Authority: RCW 2…

The counting board may only count the responses for one race or measure at a time. The following process to count the ballots shall be used during a recount.(1) Each counting board shall be given the ballots one precinct or batch at a time. The results from the original count sha…

If the recount must be stopped prior to its completion for any reason, the ballots must be placed in secure storage until the resumption of the recount. The observers must be allowed to witness the sealing of the ballots and the recording of the seal numbers. Observers must also …

On completion of the recount:(1) The county auditor must prepare an amended abstract of the recounted ballots for the county canvassing board. The amended abstract must include a revised cumulative summary, as well as the votes cast in each precinct for the office or measure that…