SEATTLE ETHICS AND ELECTIONS COMMISSION
VOTERS' PAMPHLET ADMINISTRATIVE RULES
1.0 Voters’ Pamphlet Schedule
1.1 For candidates appearing on a Primary or Special Election ballot, statements and photographs must be filed with the Executive Director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission no later than 4:00 p.m. on the second Monday after the last day to file the Declaration of Candidacy pursuant to RCW 29A.24.050. A candidate’s Primary or Special Election Voters' Pamphlet statement will be used in the General Election Voters' Pamphlet unless the candidate submits a statement by the deadline for the General Election.
1.2 For candidates appearing on the General Election ballot, statements and photographs must be filed with the Executive Director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission by no later than 4:00 p.m. on the first Monday after the Primary Election date.
1.3 Arguments in favor of and in opposition to any ballot measure must be filed with the Executive Director no later than 4:00 p.m. on the second Monday after the last day for the City Council to place a measure on the ballot.
1.4 For the purpose of preparing rebuttals to arguments, the materials filed pursuant to 1.3 will be available to opposing ballot issue committees after 4:30 p.m. the same date the arguments are due.
1.5 Rebuttals to arguments must be filed with the Executive Director no later than 4:00 p.m. on the second business day after the arguments are due.
1.6 Taxing districts located wholly within the City shall have until no later than 4:00 p.m. on the eighth Thursday immediately preceding an Election to notify the Executive Director of their interest in participating in the Voters’ Pamphlet.
1.7 The Executive Director may revise these deadlines when necessary to avoid subjecting the City to additional costs under Interlocal Agreements governing the production of the Voters’ Pamphlet, or when a ballot measure, ballot title, or explanatory statement is the subject of judicial or quasijudicial proceedings. The Executive Director shall provide notice to all candidates and ballot issue committees when a deadline is revised.
1.8 Whenever a deadline falls on a national, state or City holiday, the deadline shall be the next business day at 4:00 p.m.
2.0 Candidate Photograph Specifications
2.1 Photographs must have been taken within two years of the date they are submitted.
2.2 Photographs must show only the candidate's face, or face, neck and shoulders, in the manner of a portrait.
2.3 Photographs must exclude other images, such as the candidate's hands, anything held in the hands, or other people.
2.4 Photographs must not show the candidate wearing a hat, a button, or any other article of clothing bearing an insignia, or a uniform, including but not limited to a judicial robe.
2.5 Photographs must have a plain, light but not white, background.
2.6 Candidates must submit either a 5” x 7” photograph or one electronic copy with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and a minimum printable size of 3.5” X 2.5”. If the photo is provided by e-mail, it must be an attachment to the e-mail.
2.7 Photographs must not be an informal "snap-shot," cartoon, caricature, or image that does not accurately portray the candidate.
2.8 If a photograph is not provided in compliance with the specifications in this section, the Executive Director will place the words “Photo Not Provided” in the area where a photo would appear, with the name of the candidate.
3.0 General Written Submission Specifications:
3.1 If the written statement is made electronically, candidates and committees shall submit statements as an attachment to e-mail addressed to ethicsandelections@seattle.gov. The statement must be in a format that can easily imported into a current version of Microsoft Word. The e-mail must contain the following information: (1) candidate name or ballot issue; (2) document name; (3) number of words in the statement, excluding contact information.
3.2 In addition to the electronic version, one hard copy or scanned (read only) copy of the written submission must be submitted to the Commission office in person, by e-mail or by facsimile to fax number (206) 684-8590.
3.3 Written submissions must be single spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides. They must be in paragraph form, with a quarter-inch space indent of the first line of each paragraph.
3.4 If the written submission is not made electronically, it must be typewritten, single- spaced, on plain white 8.5" x 11" paper, with one-inch margins on all sides. It must be in paragraph form, with a five space indent of the first line of each paragraph, and all pages numbered. Such submissions must be hand delivered to the Commission office.
3.5 All written submissions must have the candidate's or ballot issue committee chairperson's name and telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and website address (if any) on the lower left-hand corner of each page.
3.6 Candidate statements must also have, on the lower left-hand corner of each page, a notation "no change" if no changes to the statement will be submitted for the General Election Voters' Pamphlet or "change" to indicate that the candidate reserves the right to submit changes to the statement for the General Election Voters' Pamphlet.
3.7 Before submission, all written submissions should be proof-read for errors in spelling, punctuation, or syntax. The Executive Director and Commission staff will not proof-read submissions for such errors.
3.8 The written submission must not exceed word limits described in Rules 4.1, 5.1, and 5.2 below. All material in excess of word limits will be omitted. If such deletion creates an incomplete sentence, that incomplete sentence will also be deleted. If the written submission does not exceed the word limit, yet does not fit within the allotted space, the author will be given the option to delete words or to delete any bold, indents or bullets that will permit the submission to fit into the allotted space. If the author does not select an option within the time given by the Executive Director, the Executive Director will edit the formatting of the submission to fit within the allotted space.
3.9 The written submission must not include obscene, profane, libelous, or defamatory matter, or language that may impair circulation of the Voters’ Pamphlet through the mail. The Executive Director shall delete such language without prior notice.
4.0 Candidate Written Submission Specifications:
4.1 The written submission must not exceed 400 words.
4.2 Unless requested otherwise, the candidate’s name, campaign address, campaign telephone number, campaign fax number, campaign e-mail address and campaign website address will appear in the pamphlet with the candidate's statement, space permitting, but will not be counted against the statement word limit. Candidates must inform the Executive Director in writing if they do not want any or all of the above contact information included in the Voters’ Pamphlet.
4.3 Guidelines: The purpose of the Voters’ Pamphlet is to introduce the candidates to the public. Therefore, candidates are encouraged to do the following in their written submissions:
* tell who you are,
* show that you understand this community and its concerns,
* explain where you stand,
* be forthright, and
* set a respectful tone.
5.0 Ballot Issue Statement Specifications:
5.1 The arguments in support of and in opposition to any ballot measure must not exceed 400 words.
5.2 The rebuttals of arguments in support of and in opposition to any ballot measure must not exceed 150 words.
5.3 The names of the members of the ballot issue committee appointed by the City Council President under SMC 2.14.040(A) will appear in the Voters’ Pamphlet with the statement.
5.4 Unless requested otherwise, the committee’s name, campaign address, campaign telephone number, campaign fax number, campaign e-mail address and campaign website address will appear in the pamphlet with the committee's statement, space permitting, but will not be counted against the statement word limit. Committees must inform the Executive Director in writing if they do not want any or all of the above contact information included in the Voters’ Pamphlet.
5.5 If there is more than one political committee that supports a ballot measure, or more than one political committee that opposes a ballot measure, the Executive Director shall attempt to obtain agreement among all the political committees that take the same position as to the three individuals proposed to serve on the committee to write the arguments for the Voters’ Pamphlet. If the Executive Director is not able to obtain agreement among the committees, the Executive Director will submit to the City Council President a list of possible committee members to draft the argument for that position, and the City Council President will appoint the committee to prepare the ballot argument.
5.6 If no political committee has been organized to support or oppose a ballot measure, the Executive Director will attempt to recruit an individual or individuals to serve on the ballot issue committee appointed by the City Council President.
6.0 Late Submissions:
If the production schedule for the Voters’ Pamphlet can accommodate a submission or submissions received after the deadlines established by these Rules, the costs associated with including the late submission(s) in the Pamphlet will be borne by the candidate(s) and/or ballot issue committee(s) responsible for the additional costs. This section creates no right by candidates or committees to require changes to the Voters’ Pamphlet. If the production schedule cannot accommodate a late submission or submissions, the Executive Director will place the words “Statement Not Provided” in the area where the submission(s) would appear.
7.0 Authority of the Executive Director:
The Executive Director shall determine the format, typesetting, layout and appearance of the Voters’ Pamphlet, consistent with these rules and applicable law.
These Rules were adopted by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission at the meeting on July 6, 2011, and will be effective on the date they are filed with the City Clerk. The Commission members voting to take this action were:
Robert Mahon, Chair
Bill Sherman, Vice Chair
Tarik Burney
Richard E. Cohan
Lynne Iglitzin
David Mendoza
Amit Ranade
STATE OF WASHINGTON
CITY OF SEATTLE
I, WAYNE BARNETT, Executive Director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, State of Washington, do hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of the Voters' Pamphlet Administrative Rules, implementing SMC 2.14, as adopted on July 6, 2011.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of July, 2011.
_______________________________
WAYNE BARNETT, Executive Director