AN ORDINANCE submitting a proposition to the qualified electors of the City, at the general election to be held on November 2, 1999, to amend Article IV, Section 2, Subdivision A, and Article XVIII, Sections 1 and 2 of the Charter of the City of Seattle; all in order to delete obsolete references to processes for conducting City elections, which processes are now governed by State law; ratifying and confirming prior acts; calling on the City Clerk to certify the proposed amendment to the Director of Records and Elections of King County and directing such Director to submit the proposition to City voters; and providing for the publication of such proposed amendment.

ARTICLE XVIII Elections

Section 1. ELECTIONS; GENERAL AND SPECIAL: A gG eneral municipal elections shall be held biennially on the second Tuesday in March in the even numbered years. At the election to be held in March, 1948, the Mayor, the Corporation Counsel and four members of the City Council shall be elected for terms of four years, and two members for two years; and, at the election in March 1950, the City Comptroller, the City Treasurer and five members of the City Council shall be elected for fouryear terms. S and special elections shall be held at such times, and for such purposes, as the City Council may, by ordinance, prescribe, subject to state law.

Subdivision A. NOMINATIONS: Nominations for municipal elective offices under this Charter shall be made in conformity with the nonpartisan method hereinafter prescribed and provided, to-wit:

First. PRIMARY ELECTION: A primary election shall be held on the Tuesday two weeks preceding the day of any general municipal election. Whenever said Tuesday shall fall upon any legal holiday, the primary shall be held on the Monday immediately preceding the same.

Second. BALLOTS: All names of candidates to be voted upon at the primary election shall be printed upon the official primary ballot alphabetically in groups under the designation of the respective titles of the offices for which they are candidates.

Nothing on the ballot shall be indicative of the source of the candidacy or of the support of any candidate. No ballot shall have printed thereon any party or political designation or mark, and there shall not be appended to the name of any candidate any such party or political designation or mark, or anything indicating his views or opinions.

All ballots shall be as provided by state law.

Third. NAME OF CANDIDATE TO BE PLACED ON BALLOTS: The name of a candidate shall be printed upon the ballot prepared for the primary election, when a declaration of candidacy shall have been filed in the office of the City Comptroller, as follows:

DECLARATION OF CANDIDACY: Not earlier than sixty (60) days nor later than thirty (30) days before the primary election any eligible person desiring to become a candidate for nomination for any office, shall file in the office of the City Comptroller a declaration of candidacy, accompanied by a fee equal to one per cent of the annual salary attached to the office for which he desires to become a candidate.

The form of such declaration of candidacy, to be furnished by the City Comptroller, shall be substantially as follows:

State of Washington, County of King, City of Seattle, ss.

I, .............................................., being first duly sworn, on oath depose and say: That I reside at No. .. in The City of Seattle, and am a qualified voter therein; that I hereby declare myself eligible and a candidate for the nomination for the office of . . . . . . . . . . . . . at the primary election to be held on the. . . . day of . . . . . ., 19. . . . .; that in making this declaration I am not becoming a candidate as the nominee of, or because of any promised support from any political party or any committee or convention representing or acting for any such political party. That I possess the qualifications required by law for said office.

I accompany this declaration with the sum of . . . . . . . . . dollars, the fee required by law for becoming such candidate.

Dated this . . . . day of . . . , 19 . . . . . . . . Subscribed and sworn to before me this . . . . . . . . .day of. . . . . . , 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

City Comptroller. By, . . . . . . . . Deputy Clerk.

Fourth. WITHDRAWAL: Any person may, not later than fifteen (15) days before the primary election, withdraw by filing with the City Comptroller a request therefor in writing, and no name so withdrawn shall be printed upon the official ballot. The City Comptroller shall preserve in his office for a period of three years all declarations of candidacy filed under the provisions of this article.

Fifth. CANDIDATE CERTIFIED: The City Comptroller shall, not less than ten (10) days before the primary election, certify a list of candidates for the respective offices whose names are entitled to appear upon the ballot, together with a list of the offices to be filled, and the same shall be published at least three consecutive days before the election in the City official newspaper.

Sixth. STATE LAW AND CITY CHARTER APPLICABLE: All the provisions of this Charter and of the state law relating to the holding of municipal elections shall apply.

Sec. 2. ELECTION CONTESTS: A certificate of election shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated, but the City Council shall decide all questions as to the qualification and election of its own members, and in all cases of contested election for any office the contest shall be decided by the City Council according as nearly as may be, to the laws of the state regulating proceedings in cases of contested elections for county officers.OFFICES NONPARTISAN: All municipal elective offices under this Charter shall be nonpartisan.

Section 2. The King County Director of Records and Elections, as ex officio supervisor of elections, is hereby directed to submit to the qualified electors of the City the proposition set forth below at the City general election on November 2, 1999.

The City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to certify the proposition to the King County Director of Records and Elections in the following form:

Proposed City Charter Amendment No.____

Shall the Seattle City Charter be amended to delete obsolete references to processes for conducting City elections, which processes are now governed by State law; and shall Article IV, Section 2, Subdivision A and Article XVIII, Sections 1 and 2 of said charter be amended accordingly?

Yes____ No____

Every qualified voter at the election desiring to ratify the proposition shall mark his or her ballot "Yes." Every qualified voter desiring to reject the proposition shall mark his or her ballot "No."

Section 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the Director of the Department of Records and Elections of King County as Supervisor of Elections the charter amendment proposed herein in the form of a ballot title conforming to the foregoing statement of the same, and shall certify a copy of the proposed charter amendment, and the same shall be published by the City Clerk in two daily newspapers in the City for at least thirty (30) days prior to such election and as required by RCW 35.22.170.

Section 4. Certification of the charter amendment proposed herein by the City Clerk to the Director of Records and Elections and any other act pursuant to the authority and prior to the effective date of this ordinance is hereby ratified and confirmed.

Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force immediately upon approval by the Mayor or, if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten (10) days after presentation, then on the eleventh (11th) day after its presentation to the Mayor or, if vetoed by the Mayor, then immediately upon its passage over his veto.

Passed by the City Council the _____ day of ____________, , and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _________________, . _____________________________________ President _______ of the City Council

Approved by me this _____ day of _________________, . ___________________________________________ Mayor

Filed by me this _____ day of ____________________, . __________________________________________ City Clerk

July 6, 1999 (Ver. 3 )