Memo
To:

Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission

From: Wayne Barnett
Date: February 6, 2019
Re:

Debates

______________________________________________________________________________
Law and Rules
SMC 2.04.630 provides in relevant part as follows:
To seek qualification [for the Democracy Voucher Program], the
candidate shall file with the Commission…a pledge attesting to the
candidate's intent to participate, asserting that the candidate shall timely
file or has filed a declaration of candidacy for the office indicated, and that
the candidate shall comply with applicable campaign laws and the
following:
1. Taking part in at least three debates (as defined by the Commission) or
similar public events for primary and general elections each (although the
Commission may waive or reduce this requirement for good cause);
In December 2016, the Commission defined a debate as follows: “A debate is a live
event, open to the general public, at which all the candidates in a particular race have an
opportunity to respond to questions. Each candidate must be given an equal opportunity to
participate.”
Issue
In the process of evaluating the Democracy Voucher Program after the 2017 elections,
staff concluded that the definition of “debate” adopted by the Commission could necessitate
debates that would be of limited value to the voting public. Had the mayor’s race been part of
the Program in 2017, participating candidates would have been required to participate in three
debates to which all 21 mayoral candidates had been invited. If a debate were scheduled to last
three hours, each candidate would conceivably have less than ten minutes at the microphone.
Such a format seems unlikely to serve the purpose of a debate, making it unlikely that
organizations would be willing to sponsor such forums.

 One of the touchstones of the voucher program is that candidates must show broad
community support to participate. Staff proposes that candidates similarly be required to show
some minimal community support to be required invitees at debates. (To be clear, staff is not
attempting to dictate how private organizations organize their debates, nor is it freeing public
agencies from the requirement that all candidates be invited to participate in debates that take
place in City facilities. It is proposing narrowing the definition of debate so that Democracy
Voucher candidates can participate in debates that organizations will sponsor, and candidates and
the public are more likely to attend.)
Staff recommends that candidates for City and Council and City Attorney be required to
have 50 contributors in order to be required attendees at debates, and candidates for Mayor be
required to have 100 contributors in order to be required attendees. In the 2015 City Council
elections, in which all nine seats were on the ballot, 33 candidates would have met the threshold,
and 14 would not. The largest debates would have featured five candidates, and the smallest
would have featured two.
In the 2017 City Council and City Attorney elections, eleven candidates would have met
the threshold and six would not. In the 2017 Mayoral election, eight candidates would have met
the threshold and 13 would not.