After Lewis County nearly elected a deceased member of the community last year and triggered a costly state-mandated hand recount, the Legislature has taken action to prevent the same situation in the future.
The Washington state House of Representatives passed House Bill 2574 earlier this week, just one day before a cutoff deadline. The House approved the bill nearly unanimously, with just two members, one Democrat and one Republican, voting against the legislation.
The bill, inspired by the death of candidate Tom Crowson during his campaign for a Napavine fire district board, would allow county auditors to remove deceased candidates from election ballots when presented with the death certificate of the candidate.
According to an announcement from state Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Chehalis, who is the prime sponsor of the bill, the legislation will streamline a “sensitive process” for removing deceased candidates. Auditors can already remove candidates from a ballot; however, it requires legally disqualifying the candidate and often includes legal proceedings.
The new rules will allow counties to avoid paying for legal proceedings and costly recounts or dealing with delayed election or appointment of public officials simply with the presentation of the candidate’s death certificate.
“Tom was a friend and a dedicated public servant, and the votes he received were a testament to how much this community cared for him,” Abbarno said. “However, the current rules forced the county into a recount that cost taxpayers time and money. This bill allows us to honor a candidate’s memory without creating confusion on the ballot or incurring unnecessary costs for the auditor.”
The bill includes procedures for how a candidate should be removed from the ballot. If an auditor’s office is presented with a death certificate before ordering ballots, the name will simply be removed from the ballot. If a candidate dies after ballots are ordered and printed, the auditor is able to not count the votes of the candidate toward an electoral victory.
In the case that a deceased candidate was a top performer in a primary election, their name would be removed from the general election ballot and the candidate with the third-highest number of votes would advance to the general election.
For previous reporting on the bill, visit https://tinyurl.com/3dkpyec2.
