Petition for Declaratory Order for A Better Seattle

The Commission issued an order following a petition from the political committee A Better Seattle, which supports a recall vote against Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, to lift a $1,000 limit on contributions from donors. The basis for the Commission's actions was a federal case that found Washington State's application of contribution limits to a recall committee was unconstitutional under circumstances in which the limits do not further the important interest of preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption. [Declaratory Order No. 19, issued Nov. 26, 2021]

The PDC's citations in the Revised Code of Washington have moved from Chapter 42.17A to Title 29B. Please see our interactive tool to find new citation numbers for the RCWs listed below.

The Commission issued an order following a petition from the political committee A Better Seattle, which supports a recall vote against Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, to lift a $1,000 limit on contributions from donors. The Commission reviewed a similar request before issuing PDC Declaratory Order 17 in 2015 that suspended enforcement of RCW 42.17A.405 (3) and (14) as applied to a recall committee. The basis for the Commission's actions was Farris v. Seabrook, 677 F.3d 858 (9th Cir. 2012), a federal case that found Washington State's application of contribution limits to a recall committee was unconstitutional under circumstances in which the limits do not further the important interest of preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption. [Declaratory Order No. 19, issued Nov. 26, 2021]

Decl_Order_ABS-Recall-Stip-FINAL.pdf