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Ballot question

Snohomish County Charter Proposition 3: make all county offices nonpartisan

On the ballot in
Snohomish County
Vote
Yes or no
Election
Nov 3, 2026

The question, as printed on the ballot

Proposed Amendments to the Snohomish County Charter Proposition No. 3 Converting All Elected County Offices to Non-partisan Offices The Snohomish County Charter Review Commission has proposed an amendment to the county charter concerning non-partisanship in all elected county offices. This proposition would require that all candidates for a Snohomish County elected office appear on the ballot without a political party designation and that all elected county offices be non-partisan offices. This proposition would amend Section 4.15 and Section 4.80 of the County Charter. Should this proposition be enacted into law:

A “Yes” vote means

All elected county offices, including Council, Executive and Prosecutor, would become nonpartisan, with no party preference shown on the ballot.

A “No” vote means

The County Council, Executive and Prosecutor would remain partisan offices, with candidates' party preferences shown on the ballot.

Official plain English statement

If approved by voters, this proposition would amend the Snohomish County Charter to require that all elected offices be non-partisan. Currently, the offices of County Council, Executive, and Prosecutor are partisan. Charter Section 4.80 would be amended to remove references to partisan positions. New Transitional Charter provisions would be added to effectuate the transition to non-partisan offices.

Sources

The question and plain English statement are copied word for word from official election materials. The Gist does not take a side on ballot questions.