LCR 0.6 ELECTIONS

        (a) General provisions . Each elected position (Presiding Judge, Assistant Presiding, and Executive Committee) shall be handled by a separate election. The procedures set forth below shall be undertaken separately for each position in the following order: Presiding Judge, Assistant Presiding Judge and members of the Executive Committee.
        (b) Terms of office. 
                    (1) The Presiding Judge shall serve a two-year term. The term shall commence on January 1 of the year in which the Presiding Judge’s term begins.
                    (2) The Assistant Presiding Judge shall serve a one-year term, commencing on January 1.
                    (3) The elected members of the Executive Committee shall serve a two-year term. The terms are to be staggered such that half the elected members are chosen in odd-numbered years and half in even-numbered years. Terms shall commence on January 1.
        (c) Solicitation of Candidate . Prior to each election, a questionnaire shall be circulated to every judge to determine whether that judge wishes to be a candidate for the position at issue. The solicitation for the position of Presiding Judge shall occur no later than October 1 of the year in which a Presiding Judge is to be elected. Immediately after a Presiding Judge has been elected, candidates for the position of Assistant Presiding Judge shall be solicited and an election for that position shall be held. Immediately after the election of an Assistant Presiding Judge, candidates for the Executive Committee shall be solicited. The questionnaire for each position shall include a description of the election process and the deadline by which the questionnaire must be returned.
        (d) Candidate information . A list of all judges who have responded affirma­tively to the questionnaire shall be available from the Chief Administrative Officer throughout the nomination process. One week prior to the deadline for returning the question­naires, the Chief Administrative Officer shall provide each judge with a list of all persons who have answered affirmatively regarding the race in question.
        (e) Reconsideration of Previously Submitted Questionnaire . Up until the deadline for returning questionnaires, a judge may withdraw a previously submitted questionnaire and re-submit a new questionnaire indicating whether that judges wishes to be a candidate for the position in question.
        (f) Distribution of ballots . Except where there is only one candidate for a position, ballots will be immediately circulated to all judges after the deadline for returning the questionnaire for that position has passed. Each judge shall return the ballot in the time allotted. Voting may be by absentee ballot when necessary.
        (g) Counting . Ballots shall be counted by the three most junior judges present at the King County Courthouse on the first judicial day following the return date specified in the ballot.
        (h) Run -off elections . A candidate who receives a majority of votes cast shall be elected. If one candidate does not receive a majority of votes cast, there shall be a run-off election.
        (i) Single Candidate . When only one candidate has submitted his or her name for consideration, that candidate shall be deemed elected without the need for the distribution and counting of ballots.
        (j) Vacancies . If a judge who has been elected to any office resigns from office or is otherwise unable to complete a term, the Presiding Judge shall promptly establish an election process consistent with the method provided in these rules.

[Amended effective September 1, 2008]