On-Line Local Voter's Pamphlet - 2009 Administrative Rules

Sheilah Crider, Island County Auditor

Loann Gulick , Elections Administrator

Michele Reagan , Assistant Administrator

LOCAL ON-LINE VOTER'S PAMPHLET TIMELINE

PRIMARY ELECTION - AUGUST 18, 2009

GENERAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 3, 2009

SPECIFICATIONS FOR CANDIDATE and ISSUE STATEMENTS APPEARING IN THE ISLAND COUNTY ON-LINE LOCAL VOTER'S PAMPHLET

Deadline for Submission of Statement and Photograph: 4:30 pm on next Friday after close of regular filing period.

Any candidate who wishes to have a statement and photograph appear in the Island County On-Line Local Voters’ Pamphlet to be published to the internet in advance of the Primary and General Elections, must submit material to the Island County Elections Office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the next Friday after the close of the regular candidate filing period, in order to assure inclusion in the pamphlet. All material received will be date stamped. 

ALL SUBMISSIONS FOR INCLUSION IN THE LOCAL ON-LINE VOTERS’ PAMPHLET

Electronic submissions may be delivered by disk, or they may be emailed to: micheler@co.island.wa.us . Please attach the name of the committee to disks or state the committee's name in the subject line for email submissions. Submissions may be mailed to:

Island County Auditor - Elections

Local Voters’ Pamphlet

P.O. Box 1410

Coupeville , WA . 98239-1410

Submissions may be delivered to our office, Monday through Friday 8 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. at:

County Auditor ’s Office – Elections Div.

400 North Main Street

Coupeville , WA . 98239

STATEMENTS :

Candidate statements will be limited to 200 words or less. Candidates are responsible for observing this limit. If the statement exceeds 200 words, all of the material in excess of the word limit will be omitted. If that deletion creates an incomplete sentence, the sentence will be omitted. There is NO exception to this.

The following guidelines will apply to all statements:

• The candidate's name, address, and phone number should appear at the top of the statement. (This is not part of the word count.)
• In accordance with state law, any statements by a candidate should be limited to statements about himself or herself.
• Use paragraph style. Lists of items that require multiple indentations may be reformatted by the Auditor due to space limitations.
• Words, phrases, and sentences that are italicized, underlined, capitalized or emphasized in some other manner will be typeset in italic. We recommend that candidates avoid such exaggerations as they will reduce the readability of the statement.
• Hyphenated words will count as two words, e.g. "user-friendly."
• Numbers will count as one word, e.g. "4,000,000" or "4 million."
• "Word/word" will count as two words, e.g. "public/private."
• Submissions on paper should be typed, double spaced, on white, 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. Submissions by electronic media should be written in Microsoft Word or in the body of an email.

PHOTOGRAPHS :

Candidates may submit photographs in paper or electronic form to be included with their statements. For all photographs:

• Photographs cannot be more than five years old.
• Any photographs that reveal clothing, uniform or insignia suggestive of holding public office are prohibited.
• Due to space limits the photograph must only be of the head and shoulders.
• Paper photographs should be glossy prints, either color or black and white, not smaller than 3 x 5 inches or larger than 5 x 7 inches. Digital photographs should be either .tiff or .jpg format.

Content: Any statement by a candidate should be limited to statements about himself or herself. By law, the County Auditor is required to reject any statement which is libelous or otherwise inappropriate.

Editing of Statements: In a publication of this magnitude, it is inevitable that the material submitted for publication may contain some inadvertent errors in spelling, punctuation or syntax which could 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. The Auditor’s Office is not obligated, however, to make such corrections and will assume no responsibility for errors which result from inaccuracies in the original statement submitted by the candidate.

Unacceptable Statements: If any portion of the candidate’s statement is rejected, only that rejected portion may be re-written and submitted for inclusion in the statement.

Candidates will be notified in writing no later than the Monday following the Friday deadline for submission of candidates statements if their statement, or any portion thereof, contains what the Auditor believes are libelous statements or otherwise inappropriate material. Candidates will have until the day following the Auditor’s notice to either (1) appeal that determination citing reasons why the candidate believes that the statement is not libelous or otherwise inappropriate, or (2) resubmit a re-written statement for the portion found objectionable. The County Canvassing Board shall consider any appeals. After consideration of the Auditor’s written notice and the candidate’s appeal statement, the Canvassing Board will make a final determination. Fees: No fee shall be charged to candidates submitting material to be included in the On-Line Local Voters’ Pamphlet.

Viewing of Statements: Statements become public record when received and are available upon request from our office. Candidates should understand that anything they submit may appear in a publication prior to the voters’ pamphlet being online.

The On-Line Local Voters’ Pamphlet will be published on the Island County ’s website.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR BALLOT MEASURE STATEMENTS APPEARING IN THE ISLAND COUNTY ON-LINE LOCAL VOTERS’ PAMPHLET

Deadline for Submission of Statements: 4:30pm on the next Friday after close of regular filing period or 10 days after the Primary Election for measures to be included on the General Election ballot.

Ballot measures for districts that are included in the Island County On-line Local Voters’ Pamphlet shall consist of: (1) the official ballot title of the measure; (2) a neutrally-worded explanatory statement written by that district’s attorney; and (3) statements of advocacy committees for and against approval. Advocacy committees for approval and rejection shall be appointed by the legislative body of the district submitting the ballot measure to the voters. The district must make a good faith effort to find an individual or individuals or a group to be a committee in favor of the measure and a committee opposed to the measure. Persons who contact the Auditor’s office requesting an opportunity to submit either a pro or a con statement on a measure will have their name/organization forwarded to the appropriate legislative body and the Auditor’s office will provide the group requesting a statement the deadlines for submission of such a statement, along with any administrative rules. If there are questions, call the Auditor’s Office.

An advocacy committee that wishes to have a statement appear in the Island County On-Line Local Voters’ pamphlet must submit material to the Island County Elections Office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the next Friday after the close of the regular filing period for candidates or measures that are on the primary election ballot and by ten days after the primary election for measures that are on the general election ballot in order to assure inclusion in the pamphlet. All material received will be date stamped.

If no neutrally-worded statement written by the district’s attorney and if no pro or con statements are submitted, the ballot title and the names of legislative body requesting the proposition will be the only information provided in the on-line voters’ pamphlet.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT OF DISTRICT’S ATTORNEY

The attorney for the district submitting a ballot measure shall prepare and submit to the Auditor a statement for inclusion in the local on-line voters’ pamphlet. The statement shall consist of the following three parts: (1) the official ballot title of the measure prepared by the prosecuting attorney or city attorney; (2) a neutrally-worded statement written by the district’s attorney explaining the law regarding the ballot measure as it currently exists; and (3) a neutrally-worded statement written by the district’s attorney describing the effect that the ballot measure will have if it passes. The explanatory statement shall be prepared in clear and concise language and avoid the use of legal and other technical terms insofar as possible. The deadline for submission of the district attorney’s statement shall be the same as the deadline for submission of advocacy committee statements set forth above.

STATEMENTS OF ADVOCACY COMMITTEES

Ballot measure advocacy statements will be limited to 200 words or fewer. Committees are responsible for observing this limit. If the statement exceeds 200 words, all of the material in excess of the word limit will be omitted. If such a deletion creates an incomplete sentence, the sentence will be omitted. There is NO exception to this.

The following guidelines will apply to all statements:

• The advocacy committee's name and the contact person’s name, address, and phone number should appear at the top of the statement. (This is not part of the word count.)
• Use paragraph style. Lists of items that require multiple indentations may be reformatted by the Auditor due to space limitations.
• Words, phrases, and sentences that are italicized, underlined, capitalized or emphasized in some other manner will be typeset in italic. We recommend that candidates avoid such exaggerations as they will reduce the readability of the statement.
• Hyphenated words will count as two words, e.g. "user-friendly."
• Numbers will count as one word, e.g. "4,000,000" or "4 million."
• "Word/word" will count as two words, e.g. "public/private."

Submissions on paper should be typed, double spaced, on white, 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. Submissions by electronic media should be composed in Microsoft Word or in the body of an email.

Content: By law, the County Auditor is required to reject any statement that is libelous or otherwise inappropriate.

Editing of Statements: In a publication of this magnitude, it is inevitable that the material submitted for publication may contain some inadvertent errors in spelling, punctuation or syntax which could adversely affect the readability of the statement and improperly reflect on the committee. The County Auditor may correct such incidental errors as long as this does not affect the content of the statement. The Auditor’s Office is not obligated, however, to make such corrections and will assume no responsibility for errors which result from inaccuracies in the original statement submitted by the candidate.

Unacceptable Statements: If any portion of the committee’s statement is rejected, only that rejected portion may be re-written and submitted for inclusion in the statement.

Committees will be notified in writing no later than the Monday following the Friday deadline for submission of advocacy committee statements if their statement, or any portion thereof, contains what the Auditor believes are libelous statements or otherwise inappropriate material. Committees will have until the day following the Auditor’s notice to either (1) appeal that determination citing reasons why the committee believes that the statement is not libelous or otherwise inappropriate, or (2) resubmit a re-written portion of their statement. The County Canvassing Board shall consider any appeals. After consideration of the Auditor’s written notice and the committee’s appeal statement, the County Canvassing Board will make a final determination.

Fees: No fee shall be charged to committees submitting material to be included in the On-Line Local Voters’ Pamphlet.

Viewing of Statements: Statements become public record when received and are available upon request from our office. Committees should understand that anything they submit may appear in a publication prior to the voters’ pamphlet.