Candidate Guidelines and Procedures
(Summer/Fall 2005)
If you have questions, call 206-296-1565.
Update: All forms and Voter Pamphlet information will be available by June 20, 2005.
Q: How do I become
a candidate?
A: According to state Public
Disclosure law, a person becomes a candidate when one of the following events occurs:
the candidate publicly announces candidacy, begins collecting or spending
money for a campaign, contracts for campaign goods or services, or officially
files for office during filing week.
Q: What are the qualifications
for being a candidate?
A: The basic qualifications
for most offices are simple: the candidate must be a registered voter
residing in the jurisdiction in which s/he wants to be elected (congressional
candidates are an exception); and finally, candidates for judicial positions
must be attorneys-at-law in the State of Washington.
Q: What must I do after I become a candidate?
A: If your jurisdiction had fewer than
1,000 registered voters as of the last General Election, you do not have
to file state reports (Federal candidates check with the Federal Election
Commission, FEC 1-8---424-9530). If your jurisdiction had over 1,000 registered voters as of the
last General Election, you must file with the Public Disclosure Commission
within two weeks of becoming a candidate. This filing consists of the
Personal Financial Affairs Statement (PDC Form F-1). In addition, if your
jurisdiction has over 5,000 registered voters, the Candidate Registration
(C-1) form is required to be filed as well. These forms may be obtained
from the Division of Records, Elections and Licensing Services or from
the State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) in Olympia. You may file public disclosure
information electronically by contacting the PDC at www.pdc.wa.gov .
Q: Where do I send
the completed forms?
A: Send the original to the
PDC in Olympia. To the
following address:
Public Disclosure
Commission
P.O. Box 40908; Olympia, WA 98504-0908
Send a copy
of the C-1 to:
Records, Elections and Licensing Services
ATTN: PDC Filings
King County Administration Building
500 4th Avenue, Rm 553
Seattle, WA 98104-2337
Copies may be mailed, hand-delivered or faxed.
NOTE: Candidates
are not required to file
a copy of the Financial Affairs Statement (PDC Form F-1) with the county. If you are filing electronically with
the PDC you may not need to file with the county. Contact the PDC
for answers to your questions.
Q: How do I get my
name on the ballot?
A: To officially file for
an office, you must complete a Declaration of Candidacy form and file
with the following office:
Secretary
of State - for all federal offices, all statewide offices, legislative
offices whose districts include more than one county and State Supreme
Court positions.
King County Elections Office - for other offices* (King County Administration Building, Room 553 500 Fourth Avenue; Seattle, WA 98104)
*Special purpose districts
located in more than one county file in the county which has the largest
portion of the registered voters in the district. School districts
located in more than one county, file in the county designated by the
state board of education.
If the office
for which you are filing is subject to a filing fee, you must include
the filing fee with the completed Declaration of Candidacy.
Q: When does candidate
filing take place?
A: The filing period is the
week beginning Monday, July 25, 2005, and ending the following
Friday, July 29, 2005. In addition, properly
executed filings will be accepted by mail if received by the proper filing
office (see above), no sooner than two weeks before the beginning of the
filing period and no later than the last day of filing. (July 11, 2005 through July 29,
2005) Declarations received will not be processed until the first day
of filing.
Q: Must I indicate
a party membership?
A: If the office for which you wish to run is designated a “partisan” office, you must declare a political party to be eligible to be a candidate. All state offices, except the Superintendent of Public Instruction and judicial positions, are partisan offices. Offices in King County government, with the exception of Sheriff, are partisan offices as well. Candidates must indicate their party preference or indicate that they are an independent candidate on the Declaration of Candidacy. The party preference will be listed on the ballot exactly as provided by the candidate unless limited space necessitates abbreviation. If the candidate does not indicate a party preference, the Elections Office will attempt to contact the candidate by phone and/or by mail. If the candidate does not respond in time, he/she will be listed as an independent candidate on the ballot.*
*The law was change based on Initiative No. 872 which was passed in the November 2, 2004 General Election.
Q: How do I file by
mail?
A: Obtain
a filing form from the Secretary of State or the Elections Office in person
or by phoning 206 296-1565. The Elections Office will mail the form out
the same day. Complete the form. Your signature must be notarized. This
can be done in most banks or attorneys' offices, among other places. If
there is a filing fee, that fee must accompany the Declaration of Candidacy
in order for your filing to be valid. Please do not send cash through
the mail. If filing with King County, make checks payable to:
King County Treasury.
Remember: a properly executed Declaration of Candidacy will not be accepted by mail if it is received prior to July 11, 2005.
Q: What if I mail my
form in plenty of time and it is not received until after the end of the
filing period?
A:
Court cases have ruled that
to be valid, a filing must be received by the Records, Elections and Licensing
Services Division, Elections Office, before the end of the filing period,
regardless of circumstances, such as slow or wrong delivery or loss by
the post office. If you mail your filing document, it is a good idea to
call the Elections Office at 206 296-1565 to make sure that it was received.
Q: If I cannot come
into Seattle myself and do not want to mail the
Declaration of Candidacy, what can I do?
A: Someone else may bring
in the Declaration of Candidacy for you during the week of filing. But
remember that if a friend or associate is given the document and then
forgets to file it before the end of the filing period, you are not a
candidate. If you do not bring the declaration in yourself, be sure that
you have your signature notarized and that the filing fee, if any, is
included.
Q: What happens during
the week of filing when the Declaration of Candidacy form is submitted?
A: Office hours for filing
are 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. No filings may be made except during those hours.
The doors of Room 553, Elections Office, will be unlocked at 8:30
a.m. and promptly locked at 4:30 p.m. each day of the filing
period. Declarations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis
during the day. The declaration will be checked for completeness. If the
form is not complete, we will ask that the candidate complete the form.
Be sure to write the position number if there is a position
number for the office for which you are filing.
There will
be lists available which will give the positions subject to the election,
as verified for us by the jurisdictions. The Election staff will look
up the candidate's registration information by computer to verify that
the information given is the same as that appearing on the registration
file. Election staff members are authorized to notarize Declarations of
Candidacy during filing week. A report listing all candidates who have filed will be updated
daily and available in the office and on the Elections Internet web site,
www.metrokc.gov/elections
.
Q: What is the fee
to file for office?
A: The fee is l% of the annual
salary. If there is an annual salary of less than $1,000 the filing fee
is $10.00. If you are uncertain, please call the district involved or
the Elections Office at 206 296-1565. The filing fee for Precinct Committee
Officer (PCO) is $1.00.
Q: What if I want to
be a candidate but cannot afford to pay a filing fee?
A: State law provides that if a candidate declares inability to pay the filing fee, the candidate may file a Filing Petition. The petition must contain one valid signature for each dollar of the filing fee. If the signatures are valid, the petition will take the place of the filing fee. It is wise to submit more than the required number of signatures, in case some signatures prove invalid.
Q: What is a "valid signature" in the context of the Filing Petition?
A: A valid signature is one
belonging to a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which the candidate
wants to file for office. Therefore, if you want to run for a legislative
district office, only voters registered in that district should sign your
petition.
Q: Where do I get Filing Petition pages?
A: The Elections Office has these pages. One page will be given to a candidate. Copying
must be done at the candidate's expense.
Q: When do I turn in
the signature petition?
A: The Filing Petition pages must be presented when you file your Declaration
of Candidacy during filing week. The declaration will be accepted provisionally.
Your name will be included on the list of candidates filed with the notation
that the "filing is provisional, pending sufficiency of the filing petition".
If there is not sufficient valid signatures, the filing will not be accepted
and your name will be removed from the list of candidates filed and will
not be placed on the ballot. If you submit your filing and petition pages
early in the filing period, we will attempt to check the signatures as
quickly as possible. In this way, if you are lacking valid signatures,
you may have the opportunity to gather more if the filing period has not
ended.
Q: What if I was not
able to get enough valid signatures. May I use cash to make up the difference?
A: No. The filing fee must
be either all money or all signatures. The law makes no provision for
a combination of both.
Q: What happens if
I decide to run for a position different from the one for which I filed?
A: Go to
the office where the initial filing was made, on or before the closing
of the filing period, and complete a "Withdrawal of Candidacy" form for
the position for which you no longer wish to run. Then file another Declaration
of Candidacy form for the position for which you want to run. You must pay the filing fee. The filing
fee may not be transferred to another position, nor is it refundable.
Q: What if I decide
that I don't want to run for office after I file?
A: Candidates
may withdraw their candidacy no later than Thursday
August 4, 2005, by filing a "Withdrawal
of Candidacy" form with the filing office. The filing fee is not refundable. If a candidate decides
to withdraw after the deadline, it may be too late to have the name removed
from the ballot administratively. The candidate would have to petition
the Superior Court for removal of a name. If you are too late to make
an official withdrawal, you should still inform your opponents and the
PDC and do a press release to inform the media that you are no longer
seeking the office.
Q: If I file for office,
will my name appear on the Primary ballot?
A: If you are running for
a partisan office, your name will appear on the primary ballot regardless
of the number of candidates that file for that office.
If you have
filed for a non-partisan office, and if at the end of the withdrawal period,
there are not more than two candidates filed for the position, there will
be no primary for that position and the candidates will go forward to
the general election. (Superintendent of Public Instruction and some judicial
offices are exceptions to this rule.) Candidates who are running for commissioner positions in Park and Recreation
Districts and Cemetery Districts will not be subject to the Primary, but
will go forward to the General Election regardless of the number of candidates
who file.
The Elections
Office will notify you, if you are subject to the Primary.
Q: What order will
my name appear on the ballot?
A: Initiative No. 872 concerning the
nature of the partisan primaries was voted into law in the General Election
of 2004. This Initiative is known as the Top Two Primary. This website
will be updated once the rules and procedures for conducting the new partisan
primary are finalized.
All candidates will appear
in lot drawing order in the Primary. (See the exceptions for the
Park and Recreation Districts and Cemetery District noted above).
All candidates will appear
in the order of the highest number of votes received in the Primary. If
no Primary, then the names will appear on the General Election ballot
in the order drawn by lot.
Q: What are the public
disclosure requirements?
A: Public disclosure requirements
will vary according to the size of the jurisdiction in which you are a
candidate and the amount of money which you plan to spend. For jurisdictions
with fewer than 1,000 registered voters as of last year's general election,
there are no PDC filing requirements. For jurisdictions with more than
1,000 and less than 5,000 registered voters, only the Personal Financial
Affairs Statement (PDC Form F-1) will be necessary. For jurisdictions
of more than 5,000 registered voters, campaign reporting is necessary.
The number and frequency of reports will be minimal unless you plan to
spend over $3,500. The criterion is based on the number of registered
voters in the candidate's jurisdiction.
Q:
Are there any campaign contribution limits for King County Offices?
A: Based on dollar amounts established
by the PDC, the campaign contribution dollar limit [established in KCC
1.05.040(A)] was adjusted for the period years 2004 through 2005 to $1,350
in the aggregate to any candidate for the offices of King County Executive,
Metropolitan King County Council, King County Sheriff or King County Assessor.
You may call 206-296-1540, if you have any questions regarding the contribution
limit.
Q: Where do I get the
PDC forms? What if I need help in filling out the forms?
A:
PDC forms may be obtained
from the PDC in Olympia or from the Elections Office,
King County Division of Records, Elections and Licensing Services. These forms are provided on a CD. The
CD is free and there is no charge to file the
completed documents. If you need help in filling out the PDC forms, we
suggest that you call the PDC in Olympia. To file public disclosure
information online, contact
the PDC at 1-877-601-2828)
Q: Will there be a
voters' pamphlet published for the elections?
A: King County Elections produces the Primary Voters' Pamphlet.
The Secretary of State
publishes a Voters' Pamphlet for each General Election in November which includes
candidates for Federal, State and Judicial offices. Instructions for participation in the General Election Voters' Pamphlet can be obtained from the Office
of the Secretary of State or during filing week. Rules, deadlines,
and fees are determined by the Secretary of State. (The deadline for participation
in the State Voters' Pamphlet is three business days after filing for
office.)
Q: Will I be included
in the local voters' pamphlet?
A: King County publishes the Primary Voters' Pamphlet. This pamphlet will include candidates for the following:
King County offices, Judicial positions, City and
Town council positions, Port of Seattle commissioners, School board members,
and commissioners in Special Purpose Districts. The instructions for participation
may be obtained from the Elections Office by calling 206-296-1565 prior
to the filing period or in-person at the time of filing. The deadline
for submission of a statement and photograph in the Primary
Voters' Pamphlet is August 3, 2005.
Q: How do I
get my photo and statement in the voters' pamphlet?
A: Information about participating in the voters' pamphlet will be available during candidate filing week. This includes information regarding photo specifications and the format and length of the candidate's statement. Please follow
these instructions and observe the announced deadline.
Q: What kinds of information or services can the Election Section provide
for candidates?
A: The Elections
Office can provide the following information for a fee: . Maps of cities
and towns. . Maps of legislative districts. . Composite maps with congressional,
legislative, or council districts. . Maps of special purpose districts
(custom ordered). . Lists of registered voters by districts or precincts.
. Lists of absentee voters for the jurisdictions. . Results of past elections.
. Copies of PDC filings. Fees will be quoted upon request.
Information
or services that are provided free include:
. Voter Registration forms, absentee ballot request forms and ongoing
absentee request forms.
. PDC forms, instruction booklets and brochures on a CD provided by the
Public Disclosure Commission.
. Access to PDC forms filed by candidates, committees or PAC's.
. Access to information regarding past elections.
For specific information about
filing for office and elections call 206-296-1565.
All forms and Voter Pamphlet information will be
available by June 20, 2005.
The information
contained in these notes is subject to change by legislative amendments
or agency rules.
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