Jurisdiction Information

Local Voters' Guide Timeline

• Special Election - February 14, 2023
• Special Election - April 25, 2023
• Primary Election - August 1, 2023
• General Election - November 7, 2023

Specifications for Candidate and Issue Statements appearing in the Island County printed Local Voters' Pamphlet and Online Voters' Guide   

Candidates may submit their statements and photographs electronically or in paper format.  Electronic submissions may be submitted online, delivered by disk, or by email to: elections@islandcountywa.gov.  Provide the name of the candidate or committee on cds or state the committee's name in the subject line for email submissions. 

For candidates who file online, you will receive an email containing instructions to upload your statement and photograph.

Submissions may be mailed to: 

Island County Auditor - Elections
Voters’ Guide
P.O. Box 1410
Coupeville, WA 98239-1410

Submissions may be delivered 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday to our office at:

Island County Auditor’s Election Office
400 North Main Street
Coupeville, WA  98239

Deadline for submitting statements and photographs is the end of the business day on Friday following the close of candidate filing week (2023 deadline is May 26, 2023)

Candidate Statements 

Candidate statements are 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 the deletion creates an incomplete sentence, the entire sentence will be omitted. To ensure fairness to all candidates, there is NO exception. 

Statement Guidelines 

• The candidate's name, address, phone number, email address and campaign website address, if included, shall appear at the top of the statement.  This information 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.
• By law, the County Auditor is required to reject any statement that is libelous, obscene or otherwise inappropriate.
• Statements cannot ask for contributions or make commercial solicitations.
• Information contained in the Biographical portion of the guide is restricted to information asked for in the section.  No information will be included that is not germaine to the requested information.
• 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 usage as they reduce the readability of the statement.  Use a single font style.
• Statements may not contain graphics, graphs or charts.
• 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.
• Photographs may not include hats, buttons or clothing showing words, insignia or symbols.
• Photograph must be of the candidate only.
• Paper photographs should be glossy prints, color or black and white, not smaller than 3 x 5 inches or larger than 5 x 7 inches. Digital photographs must be either .tiff or .jpg format.

Editing of Statements: Candidates may upload their own statements and photographs electronically. The Auditor’s Office will not make  corrections to statements and assumes no responsibility for errors and/or inaccuracies in the original statement submitted directly by the candidate. 

In a document of this magnitude, it is inevitable that 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. We encourage candidates or committees to spellcheck and proofread statements before submittal and to cc themselves when submitting a statement online. 

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

Candidates will be notified in writing 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 appeal. After consideration of the Auditor’s written notice and the candidate’s appeal statement, the Canvassing Board will make a final determination. 

Viewing of Statements:  Statements become a public record when received and are available upon request at that time from our office. Candidates should understand anything they submit may appear or be referenced in a publication other than the Island County Online Voters' Guide or printed Voters' Pamphlet.   

The Online Voters’ Guide will be available on the Island County website. The printed Voters' Pamphlet will be distributed to all jurisdictions with offices or ballot measures on the ballot. For the November General Election, a statewide Voters' Pamphlet will be sent by the Secretary of State's Office and will contain items for Island County. 

Specifications for Ballot Measure Statements appearing in the Island County printed Local Voters' Pamphlet and Online Voters' Guide 

Ballot measures for districts that are included in the Island County printed Local Voters' Pamphlet and Online Voters’ Guide shall consist of: (1) the official ballot title of the measure; (2) a neutrally-worded explanatory statement written by the 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.

In the event a jurisdiction does not submit a pro and/or a con committee for a ballot measure, the County Auditor's Office will make a good faith effort to identify interested individuals and appoint them to a committee.

The following criteria will be used for appointing members:

• Must be a registered voter in the district proposing the measure
• Have an email address and the demonstrated ability to communicate rapidly by email 
• Agree to work collaboratively with other committee members
• Agree to abide by specified election timelines

For jurisdictions where committee members were not obtained, the local voters' pamphlet will contain a statement that reads, "No committee was appointed to prepare a statement."

Explanatory Statement by Attorney for the District

The attorney for the district submitting a ballot measure shall prepare the request for an election and submit to the Auditor. The packet 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 Explanatory Statement written by the district’s attorney, explaining the law regarding the ballot measure as it currently exists and 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. 

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 entire sentence will be omitted. There is NO exception to this.

Statement Guidelines

• The advocacy committee's name and the contact person’s name, address, and phone number must 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 committees avoid such exaggerations as they will reduce the readability of the statement. Use a single font style.
• Statements cannot ask for contributions or make commercial solicitations.
• Statements must be text only.  No charts, graphs or other graphics are permitted.
• 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.

Submission Deadline:  Submissions for pro/con statements must be received by the Auditor's Office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Friday of the week following the deadline for submitting resolutions.

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

Editing of Statements: In a document of this magnitude, it is inevitable that the material submitted 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 will make no changes to the Explanatory Statement as prepared by the District's Attorney.  The Auditor’s Office will not make corrections and will assume no responsibility for errors which result from inaccuracies in the original statement submitted by the committee. 

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 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. 

Viewing of Statements: Statements become  a public record when received and are available upon request  at that time from our office. Committees should understand that anything they submit may appear  or be referenced in a publication other than the Island County printed Local Voters' Pamphlet or Online Voters’  Guide.