2010 Election Manual

Tom Salzer, Technical Services ManagerWashington State Conservation Commission

December 2009, Spokane, Washington

December 2009 1Washington State Conservation CommissionPO Box 47721, Olympia, WA 98504-7721

Commission must establish procedures

Possible rulemaking on this topic announced in 2007

Engagement with conservation district clients ever since

Major rewrite in 2008

Significant updates in 2009

Possible rulemaking in 2010


Clear procedures provide fair treatment and help protect all parties

Open process requires the Commission to be responsive

Defined process for making future changes


Stakeholder involvement

Experience of staff and clients

Invoke changes to fix problems and strengthen processes

WACD District Operations Committee

Election Committee provided direction

Commission adopted in special meeting on November 24


Posting and notice

Filing deadline

Form submission and originals vs. copies

Poll time and common election date

Role of Election Officer

No undeclared write-in candidates

Resignation procedures established

Structure of the Election Manual


Problem: No public notice requirement for expiring terms

Solution: Election resolution has space for expiring terms

Resolution to be publicly posted in District office

Conservation districts strongly encouraged to advertise vacancies before filing deadline as a best practice


Problem: Due notice for mid-term vacancies not consistent

Solution: Due notice not required for mid-term vacancies in elected and

appointed offices, but recommended as a best practice unless emergency prevents it

Due notice still required for full-term elected and appointed offices


Problem: Insufficient time for conservation districts to verify candidate eligibility and create ballots

Solution: Deadline for filing extended from two weeks to four weeks

before election

May be extended to more than four weeks by action of the conservation district board


Problem: Insufficient time in difficult elections for forms and documents to be submitted to the Commission

Solution: Deadline for filing required forms and documents extended

from two weeks to four weeks after the election

To reduce confusion, conservation districts must use Commission forms


Problem: Original documents lost in the mail make reconstruction of some data difficult

Solution: Conservation districts retain originals and provide copies to the

Commission

Replacement copies can be made from originals if documents are lost or damaged


Problem: Insufficient and inconvenient polling hours

Solution: Minimum time for polls to be open doubled from two hours to

four

Polls to be open at a time convenient for voters


Problem: We have no data to refute or support demands that all conservation district elections should be held on the same day

Solution: Conservation districts should hold elections on the same day.

For 2010, the Election Committee asks for conservation districts to consider holding elections on Tuesday, February 9 or Tuesday, March 2

This is not part of the 2010 Election Manual


Problem: Inefficiency caused by requiring supervisor signatures in several places

Solution: Supervisors only sign the election resolution

Resolution appoints Election Officer

Election Officer then operates under authority delegated by the conservation district board of supervisors


Problem: Unannounced candidates often create inequity in elections for other candidates and for voters

Solution: No undeclared write-in candidates may be elected in 2010

Nominated candidates will have name on ballot

Declared write-in candidates are eligible to be elected and will not have name on ballot


Problem: No procedure for withdrawing from candidacy or resigning from office

Solution: Procedure for withdrawal of candidacy established

Procedure for resigning from office established


Problem: Duties for an individual were scattered throughout the procedures

Solution: Rearrange duties by who performs the duty

Within those sections, arrange sequentially


Provided notice mechanism for expiring terms and cleaned up mid-term notice requirements

Doubled the time available for conservation districts to determine eligibility of candidates, generate ballots, and return documents to the Commission

Provided a more failsafe solution to the problem of lost documents Doubled the time polls must be open Allowed Election Officer to perform polling officer duties in an

uncontested election Eliminated the confusion and difficulty caused by undeclared write-

in candidates Established procedures for candidate withdrawal and supervisor

resignation Restructured the Election Manual to make it easier to use


2010 Election Manual

Education

conservation district

weeks tofour weeks

election manualdecember

election resolution

insufficient time

midterm vacancies

required forms

election manualtom salzer