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Tag: precinct committee officers

Legislature sends PCO elections bill to Governor

Legislature sends PCO elections bill to Governor

Washington’s PCO elections are on the verge of being back in business. A year after a federal court judge ruled state-run PCO elections unconstitutional in the context of the Top 2 Primary, the Legislature has approved a bill requiring PCO elections to be conducted during the state’s Primary Election, which occurs Aug. 7 this year. The House concurred with Senate amendments to House Bill 1860 sending the proposal to Gov. Gregoire for her probable signing. Precinct committee officers are local…

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Lawmakers working on PCO elections fix

Lawmakers working on PCO elections fix

A House panel has passed a bill that might resolve the issue of whether the elections of Precinct Committee Officers can still be run by the state. PCOs are local Republican and Democratic Party leaders who run neighborhood precinct organizations and help fill office vacancies. The issue surfaced last year when U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour ruled that Washington’s partisan PCO election system is unconstitutional since state voters switched to a nonpartisan Top 2 system. The judge wrote: “Washington’s…

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Simpler, cheaper to run for local office

Simpler, cheaper to run for local office

Precinct committee officers (PCOs), the basic building block for the political parties, will be elected as part of the statewide primary on Aug. 17.  Thanks to a streamlining bill that was passed at the request of the Secretary of State, the $1 filing fee is no longer required, and PCO candidates can file online. The filings will be done with the County Auditor.  Before the law change, a single-county candidate could file in their home county or with the Secretary…

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