CANDIDATE FILING INFORMATION
FILING WEEK
Filings through the mail can be accepted by the elections office up to ten business days prior to in-person filing, or no sooner than May 15, 2009. Any Declaration of Candidacy received prior to May 15, 2009 can not be accepted. Filings by mail must be received no later than 4:00 pm on the last day of filing, June 5, 2009. There are no exceptions.
The period for filing in person at the Ferry County Elections Office is Monday June 1 through Friday June 5, 2009. Office hours are 8:00am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
WHERE TO FILE
For districts within Ferry County, the candidate must file with the Ferry County Elections Department located in the Courthouse at 350 E Delaware Ave #2, Republic WA 99166.
Candidates for Single-county legislative and Court of Appeals races have the option of filing with the Office of the Secretary of State. Candidates filing with the OSOS may file electronically. Go to the OSOS web site, www.secstate.wa.gov .
For partisan offices that are partially within Ferry County and partially within another county, the candidate must file with the Secretary of State’s Office at 350 Union Ave SE, PO BOX 40220, Olympia WA 98504. Non-Partisan races in districts that lie within more than one county are assigned by the state to file in the county in which the majority of registered voters reside (lead county). (RCW 29A.24.070(3))
HOW TO FILE
To place the candidate’s name on the ballot, the candidate must file a DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY. This form is available:
If you are mailing the Declaration of Candidacy, we suggest you:
FILING FEES
The proper fee must accompany the Declaration of Candidacy according the following schedule:
ANNUAL SALARY
FILING FEE
No Salary
$0.00
Per Meeting Salary
Per Diem
Less than $1,000
$10.00
Greater than $1,000
$1% of Salary
PCO’S
$1.00
An indigent candidate may submit a “Filing Fee Petition” with the Declaration of Candidacy in lieu of filing fee. The petition must contain a number of valid signatures at least equal to the number of dollars of the filing fee. The signatures must be from voters registered within the jurisdiction of the office for which the candidate is filing. The Declaration of Candidacy contains the following checkbox, “I am without sufficient assets or income to pay the filing fee required by law and I have attached a nominating petition in lieu of this fee”, pursuant to RCW 29A.24.091. If the box is checked, signing the Declaration of Candidacy indicates this is true.
*The Ferry County Elections Office is not able to accept credit or debit cards.
RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS
Candidates are responsible to ensure that they meet any residency requirements of the position for which they are filing. A candidate for public office must be:
ORDER OF CANDIDATES ON BALLOT
The order of candidate names on the primary ballot will be determined by LOT drawing on Friday, June 5, 2009 at 4:05 pm in the Ferry County Courthouse Office. The lot draw process will be done publicly and may be witnessed by the media and by any candidate.
WITHDRAWAL OF CANDIDACY
Candidates have until June 11, 2009 to withdraw after filing the Declaration of Candidacy. A written request to withdraw must be filed with the same office the Declaration of Candidacy was filed. The filing fee will not be reimbursed.
CANDIDATES CAN NOW TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR ON-LINE VOTER GUIDE WHERE THEY CAN PLACE A PHOTOGRAPH AND STATEMENT.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Candidates may provide a photo taken within the past five years. Photograph must be limited to the head and shoulders. No photograph may reveal clothing or insignia suggesting the holding of public office. Photos submitted by candidate must be received by close of business June 19, 2009. The photo can be submitted by email or delivered on CD. All photos must be in electronic jpeg format.
CANDIDATE STATEMENT
Candidates are encouraged to place a statement in the On-Line Voters’ Guide. The length of the statement shall conform to the length established for the State Voters’ Pamphlet in RCW 29A.32.121. The maximum number of words for local offices and state representatives is 100 words; state senator and superior court judge, 200 words.
All candidate statements must be submitted as computer files or typed written; handwritten statements will not be accepted. The statements must be received by us no later than close of business June 19, 2009, including statements from candidates who don’t appear on the primary ballot.
The word limit includes headers, footers, numbers and dates. Hyphenated words count as two words unless the hyphenated is listed in the OneLook directory, an online dictionary search. Any statement over the limit will be returned. Only plain text will be accepted; no italics, bold, tables, images or other enhancements will be accepted. No changes will be accepted for the General Election
The Ferry County Auditor will reject any statements which contain obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, scandalous, libelous or defamatory matter; or any language which in any way cities, counsels, promote or advocates hatred, abuse, violence and hostility toward, or which tends to cause ridicule or shame upon any person or group of persons by reason of sex, race, color, religion, or manner of worship or any language or matter the circulation of which through the mail is prohibited by federal law.
Statement content suggestions are: occupation, education, professional qualifications, why you seek the position, what ideas you have if you were elected, length of residence in the county, city, town or district, additional personal information and community involvement.
In a publication of this magnitude, it is inevitable that the material submitted for publication will contain some inadvertent errors of spelling, punctuation, or syntax which would adversely affect the readability of the statement and improperly reflect on the candidate. The County Auditor may correct such incidental errors as long as this does not affect the content of the statement. This office is not obligated, however, to make such corrections and assumes no responsibility for errors which result from inaccuracies in the original statement submitted by the candidate.
If any portion of the candidate’s statement is rejected, only that rejected portion may be rewritten and submitted for inclusion in the statement.
Candidates will be notified if their statement, if any portion thereof, has been rejected. They will be given the opportunity to appeal that rejection or resubmit a statement or revision of a portion which has been rejected. A second rejection is final, due to time constraints. The County Auditor will mail a proof copy of any statement to the candidate at the address listed on his/her submission form. If an email address is provided by the submitter, the proof may be sent by this means.
Appeals will be made to the County Auditor, who has the final decision in the acceptance and rejection of statements.
Many local candidates are required to file campaign disclosure records with the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC). The PDC, a state agency, was created by an initiative of the people. It provides access about finances of campaigns and candidates, including contributors and expenditures.
Campaign rules and forms are available at the elections Office on CD Rom. This information can also be obtained at the PDC website; http://www.pdc.wa.gov . Elections Office Staff are not able to answer questions concerning PDC rules.
Contacting the PDC
Public Disclosure Commission
711 Capital Way #206
P O BOX 40908
Olympia, WA 98504
Phone (360) 753-1111
Fax (360) 753-1112
Toll Free 1-877-601-2828
FERRY COUNTY OFFICES UP FOR ELECTION 2009