EVCIElection Voter-Confidence Index

This section codifies a statutory requirement for county auditors to print and distribute a local voters' pamphlet before primary, general, and special elections. The statute explicitly mandates content requirements—the pamphlet must provide information on all measures and candidates appearing on ballots. The statute also references format compliance with other provisions of RCW ch. 29A.32, indicating that additional content and distribution specifications are enumerated elsewhere in the chapter. This directly satisfies the criterion's requirement that candidate and ballot-question information be published in a voter pamphlet with content and distribution defined in statute.

“Before any primary or general election, or any special election held under RCW 29A.04.321 or 29A.04.330, each county auditor shall print and distribute a local voters' pamphlet. The pamphlet shall provide information on all measures and candidates appearing on ballots within that county.”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: RCW 29A.92.030 addresses voting rights protections and dilution analysis under the Voting Rights Act, specifically establishing violation standards and factors courts must consider in determining whether a political subdivision has violated voting rights protections for protected classes. The section does not contain any provisions regarding multilingual ballot requirements, triggers for multilingual voter materials, language-minority population thresholds, or language-access voting procedures. The statute concerns litigation standards and burden of proof in voting rights cases, not the procedural communication framework for multilingual ballots and materials that INFO.2 criterion measures. For the INFO.2 criterion to be satisfied, the statute would need to codify specific statutory triggers (such as census-based population percentages or language-minority thresholds) that mandate when multilingual ballots and voter materials must be provided.

The statute requires that candidate-filing documents (declarations of candidacy) be publicly accessible, which directly satisfies the public access component of CAND.1. However, the criterion asks for public accessibility 'within a defined time,' and while the statute specifies a preservation period of six months, it does not explicitly codify a defined timeframe for when the documents must become accessible to the public or how quickly they must be made available for inspection after filing. The statute establishes the openness requirement but lacks temporal specificity regarding access timing.

“All declarations of candidacy must be open to public inspection.”

RCW 29A.24.131 codifies the procedural rules for candidate withdrawal, including timing (before 5:00 p.m. Monday following filing deadline) and the filing mechanism (signed request to election officer). It also mandates that notice of the withdrawal deadline and non-refundability be given to candidates at filing. However, the criterion specifically asks about public-notice procedures when a candidate withdraws AFTER the ballot is printed. This section addresses withdrawal before the ballot is printed but does not explicitly codify procedures for notifying the public if withdrawal occurs after ballot printing, nor does it address disqualification procedures. The section provides partial satisfaction by establishing withdrawal notification requirements to candidates, but lacks explicit statutory codification of public notice procedures for post-ballot-printing withdrawals or disqualifications.

“A candidate may withdraw the candidate's declaration of candidacy at any time before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday following the last day for candidates to file under RCW 29A.24.050 by filing, with the officer with whom the declaration of candidacy was filed, a signed request that the candidate's name not be printed on the ballot.”

This statute addresses notification timing and method for constitutional amendments and state measures specifically, establishing a clear requirement ('shall publish') with defined timing ('up to four times during the four weeks immediately preceding'). However, it does not address the core elements required by NOTIF.1: notification of election date, polling place location, or voter registration deadlines. The criterion asks whether notification requirements for these fundamental election details are codified with timing and content defined. This section satisfies the notification timing and method requirement for one category of ballot content (constitutional amendments and measures) but does not satisfy the broader criterion regarding general election notification (date, polling place, registration deadline). The statute demonstrates procedural clarity for a subset of voter communication but not for the complete notification framework the criterion measures.

“the secretary of state shall publish notice of the proposed constitutional amendments and other state measures that are to be submitted to the people at a state general election up to four times during the four weeks immediately preceding that election”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: RCW 29A.08.140 addresses voter registration deadlines and procedures for registering and updating voting addresses. It does not contain any provisions regarding polling-place changes, notification requirements for polling-place changes, or timeframes for notifying voters when their polling places are modified. The section is limited to procedural rules about when and how voters must register or update their residential addresses. To satisfy NOTIF.2, the statute would need to codify: (1) a requirement to provide individual notice to affected voters, (2) when such notice must be provided, and (3) the timeframe within which notification must occur. This section contains none of these elements.