Public Disclosure Commission considers expedited rulemaking to allow parties to promote, oppose votes on ballot measures alongside preferred candidates on sample ballots

The Washington Public Disclosure Commission is considering draft rules to change language in WAC 390 to allow political parties and committees to show their position on ballot measures on sample ballots. 

Bona fide state party committees are allowed to have two kinds of accounts: Exempt and non-exempt. These committees can accept unlimited contributions from any donor for exempt funds, but are restricted to using those funds to promote voter registration, get-out-the-vote campaigns, and other uses such as sample ballots, that do not count as a contribution to any individual candidate. 

Sample ballots (including slate cards) funded through exempt accounts can show the party’s preferred candidates as long as they don’t include advocacy statements or promote individual candidates, or candidates’ positions on issues or platforms. Because they are exempt from contribution limits, sample ballots do not need to be reported or attributed as contributions to any individual campaign.      

Under current PDC rules, sample ballots that include a party’s position on any ballot proposition are not exempt from contribution limits.  Therefore, if a ballot proposition is included on the sample ballot, the party may not use exempt funds and must attribute the expenditure as a contribution to each candidate on the sample ballot.  The reasoning behind this limitation has been concern that the insertion of a ballot proposition could be construed as advocacy on issues or platforms of a candidate or the party. 

The Washington State Democratic Party submitted a petition in March asking the Commission to consider the change that would allow parties to show their preference on ballot measures on sample ballots that remain exempt from contribution limits.

The PDC is considering the changes as part of an emergency rulemaking process, which would allow the changes to be implemented in time for the 2025 election cycle. The rules would be temporary, and could be made permanent through a formal rulemaking process at a later date. 

To comment on the draft rules, email the PDC at pdc@pdc.wa.gov by May 20, 2025.