Washington Administrative Code › Title 135 - Conservation Commission › Chapter 135-110 - Election and replacement of conservation district supervisors › GENERAL › Section 135-110-110 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
"Ballot" or "official ballot" means the final, preprinted
				  ballot containing the name of each declared, nominated candidate found
				  eligible, and at least one line where a voter may enter the name of a write-in
				  candidate.
"Ballot box" means a container secured against tampering into
				  which paper ballots are placed.
"Candidate" means a person seeking the office of elected
				  conservation district supervisor who has provided the required candidate
				  information to the conservation district by the filing deadline and whose
				  eligibility to run and to serve has been verified by the conservation
				  district.
"Candidate optional information" means information provided
				  by the candidate about their candidacy.
"Candidate required information" means the factual
				  information a candidate must provide on the candidate information form to be
				  eligible for election.
"Canvass" and "canvassing" means to examine carefully or
				  scrutinize the election returns for authenticity and proper count.
"Certify" and "certification" means the canvassing of returns
				  and the verification of substantial compliance with these procedures by the
				  conservation commission.
"Conservation commission" means the Washington state
				  conservation commission governing board and all deputies and representatives
				  authorized to act on its behalf.
"Conservation commission board" and "conservation commission
				  governing board" means the governing board of the Washington state conservation
				  commission.
"Conservation district" means a governmental subdivision of
				  the state of Washington organized under the provisions of chapter 89.08 RCW
				  Conservation districts.
"Conservation district supervisors" and "district
				  supervisors" means the governing board of a conservation district, composed of
				  elected and appointed supervisors.
"Declared vacant" means a declaration by the conservation
				  commission that a conservation district supervisor position is vacant.
"Double envelope balloting" means a paper balloting system
				  consisting of an inner and an outer envelope, where a ballot is placed in an
				  inner envelope with no personally identifying marks on it, and then the inner
				  envelope with ballot is placed in the outer envelope upon which the voter has
				  provided sufficient information to allow polling officers to verify the
				  eligibility of the voter.
"Due notice" or "notice" means a notice published at least
				  twice, with at least six days between publications, in a publication of general
				  circulation within the affected area. If there is no such publication, a notice
				  may be posted at a reasonable number of public places within the area where it
				  is customary to post notices concerning county and municipal affairs. There is
				  no requirement for publication of a legal advertisement in a newspaper of
				  record. However, if a legal advertisement is published, a copy of the
				  announcement as published, showing the date of publication, is sufficient proof
				  of publication.
"Elected supervisor" means a qualified district
				  elector:
(a) Who received more valid votes than any other candidate;
				  and
(b) Whose election has been certified and announced by the
				  conservation commission.
"Election supervisor" means an individual or entity appointed
				  by conservation district supervisors to organize, coordinate, and manage tasks
				  related to the election of conservation district supervisors. Only the
				  conservation district board of supervisors may set election dates and appoint
				  the election supervisor.
"Electioneering" means the act of soliciting or advocating
				  votes for a specific candidate, or speaking for or against a specific candidate
				  within three hundred feet of a ballot box or voting place.
"Farm and agricultural land" is defined in RCW 89.08.-020 as
				  follows: "Farm and agricultural land" means either:
(a) Land in any contiguous ownership of twenty or more acres
				  devoted primarily to agricultural uses;
(b) Any parcel of land five acres or more, but less than
				  twenty acres devoted primarily to agricultural uses, which has produced a gross
				  income from agricultural uses equivalent to one hundred dollars or more per
				  acre per year for three of the five calendar years preceding the date of
				  application for classification under this chapter; or
(c) Any parcel of land of less than five acres devoted
				  primarily to agricultural uses which has produced a gross income of one
				  thousand dollars or more per year for three of the five calendar years
				  preceding the date of application for classification under this chapter.
(d) Agricultural lands shall also include farm woodlots of
				  less than twenty and more than five acres and the land on which appurtenances
				  necessary to production, preparation or sale of the agricultural products exist
				  in conjunction with the lands producing such products.
(e) Agricultural lands shall also include any parcel of land
				  of one to five acres, which is not contiguous, but which otherwise constitutes
				  an integral part of farming operations being conducted on land qualifying under
				  this section as "farm and agricultural lands."
"Farm operator" or "operator of a farm" means a person who
				  operates farm and agricultural land.
"Filing deadline" means four weeks before election day in the
				  current election cycle, or, if a local filing deadline that is more than four
				  weeks before election day is adopted by formal action of the conservation
				  district supervisors, that adopted filing deadline.
"Full term," "regular term," and "full term of office" means
				  a three-year term of office.
"Incumbent" means the person in present possession of the
				  office of conservation district supervisor.
"Landowner" means a person with legal title of record to real
				  property in the conservation district at the time of filing for election or
				  applying for appointment.
"Mail-in election" means an election in which mail-in ballots
				  are provided before election day to qualified voters. Voters return completed
				  ballots to a receiving location or address authorized by the conservation
				  district board of supervisors.
"Malfeasance" means wrongful conduct that affects,
				  interrupts, or interferes with the performance of a supervisor's official
				  duty.
"Mid-term" and "mid-term vacancy" means a vacancy in the
				  office of conservation district supervisor, when such vacancy occurs before the
				  full term of office has been fulfilled.
"Municipal officer" means all elected and appointed officers
				  of a conservation district, together with all deputies and assistants of such
				  an officer, and all persons exercising or undertaking to exercise any of the
				  powers or functions of a municipal officer.
"Neglect of duty" means failure by a supervisor or
				  supervisors to perform mandatory duties. Such duties include, but are not
				  limited to:
(a) Compliance with laws and rules imposed by local, state,
				  and federal government entities;
(b) Attendance at a sufficient number of board meetings so as
				  to not impede the work of the conservation district;
(c) Maintaining a full and accurate record of district
				  business;
(d) Securing of surety bonds for board officers and
				  employees;
(e) Carrying out an annual financial audit;
(f) Providing for keeping current a comprehensive long-range
				  program;
(g) Providing for preparation of an annual work plan;
(h) Providing for informing the general public, agencies, and
				  occupiers of lands within the conservation district of conservation district
				  plans and programs;
(i) Providing for including affected community members in
				  regard to current and proposed plans and programs; and
(j) Providing for the submission of the conservation
				  district's proposed long-range program and annual work plan to the conservation
				  commission.
"Poll list" or "polling list" means a list of voters who
				  voted in an election.
"Polling officer" means a person appointed by the election
				  supervisor to verify voter eligibility, assure compliance with this rule in and
				  around the polling place, issue ballots, count ballots, and verify the
				  unofficial ballot count in writing to conservation district supervisors.
"Poll site" and "polling site" means a location where votes
				  are collected in a ballot box.
"Poll-site election" and "walk-in election" means an election
				  in which a voter signs in on a poll list, receives a ballot from a polling
				  officer, enters a vote for a candidate on the ballot, and places the ballot in
				  a ballot box at a polling place supervised or monitored by polling
				  officers.
"Provisional ballot" or "contested ballot" means a paper
				  ballot issued to a voter whose qualifications as a qualified district elector
				  cannot be determined at the time the paper ballot is issued. A provisional
				  ballot consists of two envelopes and a paper ballot.
"Qualified district elector" means a registered voter in the
				  county where the district is located and who resides within the conservation
				  district boundary. Qualified district elector means an individual residing
				  within the boundary of the conservation district and registered to vote in a
				  county where the conservation district is located.
"Remote election" means an election in which ballots are
				  returned by some means other than for a poll-site election. A mail-in election
				  is a type of remote election.
"Short term" or "short term of office" means a term of office
				  less than three years in duration.
"Significant noncompliance" means the failure to follow the
				  requirements in this rule that may affect the outcome of an election or deny
				  voters their right of privacy in voting.
"Supervisor" means an elected or appointed board member of a
				  local conservation district governing board, in which the governing board is
				  referred to as the board of supervisors.
"Supervisor-elect" means a supervisor who received more valid
				  votes than any of the other candidates running for the same position in a
				  conservation district election, but the election has not yet been certified by
				  the conservation commission.
"Tie" or "election tie" means an election where no candidate
				  has received a simple majority of votes cast by qualified district electors,
				  and two or more candidates have received the same number of votes cast by
				  qualified district electors.
"Undeclared write-in candidate" means an individual who has
				  not submitted required candidate information to the conservation district and
				  who has not submitted a qualified nominating petition by the filing
				  deadline.
"Voter" means a person who submits a ballot in a conservation
				  district election.
"Withdrawal of candidacy" and "to withdraw" means a written
				  notice, signed and dated by the candidate, and delivered to the conservation
				  district, stating the person's desire to be removed from consideration for the
				  office of conservation district supervisor.
Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					   89.08.040,
					 89.08.190, and
					 89.08.200. 10-21-084, §
											135-110-110, filed 10/19/10,
					 effective 11/19/10.