Title 29A — Title 29A ELECTIONS

The term of every city, town, and district officer elected to office on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of the odd-numbered years begins in accordance with *RCW 29A.20.040. However, a person elected to less than a full term shall assume office as soon as …

(1) The legislature finds that certain laws are in conflict governing the assumption of office of various local officials. The purpose of this section is to provide a common date for the assumption of office for all the elected officials of counties, cities, towns, and special pu…

Every odd-numbered year, the secretary of state must conduct and publish a statewide survey of voted ballot rejection rates and the reasons for those rejections by county auditors and canvassing boards. The secretary of state must collect data from reconciliation reports and coun…

(1) A work group is established to approve a uniform ballot envelope design to be used by all counties in each election beginning with the 2026 primary election.(2) The work group must be chaired by the secretary of state, or the secretary's designee, and include at a minimum the…

An officer of a political party or any person for whom votes were cast in a primary who did not qualify for the general election may file a written application for a recount of the votes or a portion of the votes cast at that primary for all persons for whom votes were cast for t…

(1) If the official canvass of all of the returns for any office at any primary or election reveals that the difference in the number of votes cast for a candidate apparently qualified for the general election ballot or elected to any office, and the number of votes cast for the …

An application for a recount shall state the office or ballot measure for which a recount is requested, and whether the request is for all precincts or only a portion of the precincts in that jurisdiction. The person filing an application for a manual recount shall, at the same t…

(1) At the time and place established for a recount, the canvassing board or its duly authorized representatives, in the presence of all witnesses who may be in attendance, shall open the sealed containers containing the ballots to be recounted, and shall recount the votes for th…

When a partial recount of votes cast for an office or issue changes the result of the election, the canvassing board or the secretary of state, if the office or issue is being recounted at his or her direction, shall order a complete recount of all ballots cast for the office or …

(1) Upon completion of the canvass of a recount, the canvassing board shall prepare and certify an amended abstract showing the votes cast in each precinct for which the recount was conducted. Copies of the amended abstracts must be transmitted to the same officers who received t…

After the original count, canvass, and certification of results, the votes cast in any single precinct may not be recounted and the results recertified more than twice.[ 2003 c 111 s 1607. Prior: 2001 c 225 s 9; 1991 c 90 s 3. Formerly RCW 29.64.051.]Notes:Finding, purpose—1991 c…

The canvassing board shall determine the expenses for conducting a recount of votes.(1) For a recount conducted under RCW 29A.64.011, the cost of the recount shall be deducted from the amount deposited by the applicant for the recount at the time of filing the request for the rec…

When the official canvass of returns of any election reveals that the difference in the number of votes cast for the approval of a statewide measure and the number of votes cast for the rejection of such measure is less than two thousand votes and also less than one-half of one p…

Each county auditor shall file with the secretary of state a statement listing only the additional expenses incurred whenever a mandatory recount of the votes cast on a state measure is made as provided in RCW 29A.64.090. The secretary of state shall include in his or her biennia…

Any justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, or judge of the superior court in the proper county shall, by order, require any person charged with error, wrongful act, or neglect to forthwith correct the error, desist from the wrongful act, or perform the duty …

Any justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, or judge of the superior court in the proper county shall, by order, require any person charged with error, wrongful act, or neglect to forthwith correct the error, desist from the wrongful act, or perform the duty …

Any of the following causes may be asserted by a registered voter to challenge the right to assume office of a candidate declared elected to that office, to challenge the right of a candidate to appear on the general election ballot after a primary, or to challenge certification …

An affidavit of an elector filed pursuant to RCW 29A.68.013(3) must set forth specifically:(1) The name of the contestant and that he or she is a registered voter in the county, district or precinct, as the case may be, in which the office or measure is to be exercised;(2) The na…

Upon such affidavit being filed, the clerk shall inform the judge of the appropriate court, who may give notice, and order a session of the court to be held at the usual place of holding the court, on some day to be named by the judge, not less than ten nor more than twenty days …

The clerk shall issue subpoenas for witnesses in such contested election at the request of either party, which shall be served by the sheriff or constable, as other subpoenas, and the superior court shall have full power to issue attachments to compel the attendance of witnesses …

If the proceedings are dismissed for insufficiency, want of prosecution, or the election is by the court confirmed, judgment shall be rendered against the party contesting such election for costs, in favor of the party charged with error or omission.If such election is annulled a…

No irregularity or improper conduct in the proceedings of any county canvassing board or any member of the board amounts to such malconduct as to annul or set aside any election unless the irregularity or improper conduct was such as to either, reverse the outcome of an election …

When any election for an office exercised in and for a county is contested on account of any malconduct on the part of a county canvassing board, or any member thereof, the election shall not be annulled and set aside upon any proof thereof, unless the rejection of the vote of su…

When the reception of illegal votes is alleged as a cause of contest, it is sufficient to state generally that illegal votes were cast, that, if given to the person whose election is contested, or to the winning choice for a measure, in the specified precinct or precincts, will, …

No testimony may be received as to any illegal votes unless the party contesting the election delivers to the opposite party, at least three days before trial, a written list of the number of illegal votes and by whom given, that the contesting party intends to prove at the trial…

(1) No election for an office may be set aside on account of illegal votes, unless it appears that an amount of illegal votes has been given to the person whose right is being contested, that, if taken from that person, would reduce the number of the person's legal votes below th…

If an election is set aside by the judgment of the superior court and if no appeal is taken therefrom within ten days, the election of the person challenged or the outcome of the measure challenged, shall be thereby rendered void.[ 2016 c 130 s 10; 2007 c 374 s 6; 2003 c 111 s 17…

If any legal voter of the state, either individually or on behalf of an organization, desires to petition the legislature to enact a proposed measure, or submit a proposed initiative measure to the people, or order that a referendum of all or part of any act, bill, or law, passed…

Upon receipt of a proposed initiative measure, and before giving it a serial number, the secretary of state shall submit a copy thereof to the office of the code reviser and give notice to the sponsor of such transmittal. Upon receipt of the measure, the assistant code reviser to…

The office of financial management, in consultation with the secretary of state, the attorney general, and any other appropriate state or local agency, shall prepare a fiscal impact statement for each of the following state ballot measures: (1) An initiative to the people that is…

(1) The attorney general must prepare a public investment impact disclosure for any ballot measure that:(a) Repeals, levies, or modifies any tax or fee, including changing the scope or application of an existing tax or fee; and(b) Has a fiscal impact statement, as provided by RCW…

Any persons, including either or both houses of the legislature, dissatisfied with the public investment impact disclosure for a state initiative or referendum may, within three days from the filing of the public investment impact disclosure in the office of the secretary of stat…

Initiative measures proposed to be submitted to the people must be filed with the secretary of state within ten months prior to the election at which they are to be submitted, and the signature petitions must be filed with the secretary of state not less than four months before t…

The secretary of state shall give a serial number to each initiative, referendum bill, or referendum measure, using a separate series for initiatives to the legislature, initiatives to the people, referendum bills, and referendum measures, and forthwith transmit one copy of the m…

(1) The ballot title for an initiative to the people, an initiative to the legislature, a referendum bill, or a referendum measure consists of: (a) A statement of the subject of the measure; (b) a concise description of the measure; and (c) a question in the form prescribed in th…

Within five days after the receipt of an initiative or referendum the attorney general shall formulate the ballot title, or portion of the ballot title that the legislature has not provided, required by RCW 29A.72.050 and a summary of the measure, not to exceed seventy-five words…

Upon the filing of the ballot title and summary for a state initiative or referendum measure in the office of secretary of state, the secretary of state shall notify by telephone and by mail, and, if requested, by other electronic means, the person proposing the measure, the prim…

Any persons, including the attorney general or either or both houses of the legislature, dissatisfied with the ballot title or summary for a state initiative or referendum may, within five days from the filing of the ballot title in the office of the secretary of state, appeal to…

When the ballot title and summary are finally established, the secretary of state shall file the instrument establishing it with the proposed measure and transmit a copy thereof by mail to the person proposing the measure, the chief clerk of the house of representatives, the secr…

The person proposing the measure shall print blank petitions upon single sheets of paper of good writing quality (including but not limited to newsprint) not less than eleven inches in width and not less than fourteen inches in length. Each petition at the time of circulating, si…

Petitions for proposing measures for submission to the legislature at its next regular session must be substantially in the following form:The warning prescribed by RCW 29A.72.140; followed by:INITIATIVE PETITION FOR SUBMISSION TO THE LEGISLATURETo the Honorable . . . . . ., Secr…

Petitions for proposing measures for submission to the people for their approval or rejection at the next ensuing general election must be substantially in the following form:The warning prescribed by RCW 29A.72.140; followed by:INITIATIVE PETITION FOR SUBMISSION TO THE PEOPLETo …

Petitions ordering that acts or parts of acts passed by the legislature be referred to the people at the next ensuing general election, or special election ordered by the legislature, must be substantially in the following form:The warning prescribed by RCW 29A.72.140; followed b…

The word "warning" and the following warning statement regarding signing petitions must appear on petitions as prescribed by this title and must be printed on each petition sheet such that they occupy not less than four square inches of the front of the petition sheet.WARNINGEver…

When the person proposing any initiative measure has obtained signatures of legal voters equal to or exceeding eight percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election prior to the submission of the signatures for verification, or when…

The time for submitting initiative or referendum petitions to the secretary of state for filing is as follows:(1) A referendum petition ordering and directing that the whole or some part or parts of an act passed by the legislature be referred to the people for their approval or …

The secretary of state may refuse to file any initiative or referendum petition being submitted upon any of the following grounds:(1) That the petition does not contain the information required by RCW 29A.72.110, 29A.72.120, or 29A.72.130.(2) That the petition clearly bears insuf…

If the secretary of state refuses to file an initiative or referendum petition when submitted for filing, the persons submitting it for filing may, within ten days after the refusal, apply to the superior court of Thurston county for an order requiring the secretary of state to b…

The decision of the superior court refusing to grant a writ of mandate may be reviewed by the supreme court within five days after the decision of the superior court. The review must be considered an emergency matter of public concern, and be heard and determined with all conveni…

If no appeal is taken from the refusal of the secretary of state to file a petition within the time prescribed, or if an appeal is taken and the secretary of state is not required to file the petition by the mandate of either the superior or the supreme court, the secretary of st…