Candidate Guidelines and Procedures
Election Notes for Candidates
(Summer/Fall Year 2004)
These notes are published by the King County Elections Office. We hope
that they will answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding
candidates running for elective office. Please call our staff at 296-1565
if you need more information.
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.
In addition, candidates for judicial positions must be attorneys-at-law
in the State of Washington.
Q: What must I do when I first become a candidate?
A: If your jurisdiction contains 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 98054-0908
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.
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 all other offices (King County
Administration Building, Room 553 500 Fourth Avenue; Seattle, WA 98104)
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
26, 2004, and ending the following Friday, July 30, 2004. 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 12, 2004 through July 30, 2004) 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. Members
of recognized major political parties need only indicate their party membership
on the Declaration of Candidacy. Members of minor political parties must
follow the party nominating process prescribed in state law. (See Chapter
29A.20, Revised Code of Washington.)
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.
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. An 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 Supplemental Nominating
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 Supplemental
Nominating 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 the Supplemental Nominating Petition pages?
A: The Election Section 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 Supplemental Nominating 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
5, 2004, 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: What if no one files for a partisan office which is subject to election?
A: If no one from a major political party has filed
for a partisan office after the last day allowed for candidates to withdraw,
and if the vacancy is for a state or county office to be voted on solely
by the voters of one county, the county central committee of the major
political party may select and certify a candidate to fill the vacancy.
If the vacancy is for any other office, the state central committee of
the major political party may select and certify a candidate to fill the
vacancy. The certification must be filed in the proper office no later
than close of business on the Friday, August 6, 2004.
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.) The Elections
Office will notify you, if you are subject to the Primary.
Q: What order will my name appear on the ballot?
A: Due to new legislation regarding the 2004 Primary,
the method for choosing the order of names for the partisan candidates
has not been determined at this time (6/22/04). Non-partisan candidates
will appear in lot drawing order in the Primary.
Minor party and independent candidates’ names will not appear
on the Primary ballot, but will appear on the General Election ballot.
For the General Election, partisan candidates will appear in order by
party, with the party that carried the state in the previous Presidential
election appearing first, then the other major parties, followed by minor
party candidates in the order in which their parties filed with the Secretary
of State.
Non-partisan candidates will appear in the order of the highest number
of votes received in the Primary. If no Primary, then the names will appear
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: 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 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. Filing public disclosure
information may be done electronically as well. You will need to contact
the PDC, at the following phone number, 1-360-753-1111. (Toll free 1-877-601-2828)
Q: Will there be a voters' pamphlet published for the elections?
A: The Secretary of State publishes a Voters’
Pamphlet for each General Election and will include 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 at the time of filing. 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.)
King County will do a Voters’ Pamphlet in conjunction with the
state for the General Election.
Q: Will I be included in the local voters’ pamphlet?
A: King County will publish a local Voters’ Pamphlet
for the 2004 Primary. This pamphlet will include candidates for Federal,
State, Legislative and Judicial offices. The instructions for participation
may be obtained from the Elections Office by calling 206-296-1565 or at
the time of filing. The deadline for submission of a statement and photograph
for the King County Local Voters’ Pamphlet is August 3, 2004.
Q: What must I do to get my photo and statement in the voters’
pamphlet?
A: Information concerning participation in the voters'
pamphlet will be available at the time of filing. You will be given information
about photo specification and the accepted format and length of the candidate’s
statement. Please follow these specifications 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.
General Information can be obtained by calling 206-296-VOTE (8683). Specific
information about filing and elections can be obtained by calling 206-296-1565.
The information contained in these notes is subject to change by legislative
amendments or agency rules.
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