Election of a PCO:  From RCW 29A.80.051: "The statutory requirements for filing as a candidate at the primaries apply to candidates for precinct committee officer. The office must be voted upon at the primaries, and the names of all candidates must appear under the proper party and office designations on the ballot for the primary for each even-numbered year, and the one receiving the highest number of votes will be declared elected. However, to be declared elected, a candidate must receive at least ten percent of the number of votes cast for the candidate of the candidate's party receiving the greatest number of votes in the precinct. The term of office of precinct committee officer is two years, commencing the first day of December following the primary."

Terms of Office:  The term of office for anyone elected to the office of Precinct Committee Officer is two years, and commences upon the official canvass of election returns by the County Auditors office.

Vacancies and Appointed PCOs:  Vacant PCO positions shall be filled by appointment by the chair if the candidate has received a majority vote of the board.  An appointed PCO must be a registered voter in the precinct served. If a PCO resigns or moves out of a precinct, the PCO position is then vacant. Any Grays Harbor Democratic Party member may nominate a candidate to fill a vacant PCO position.  To do so, they can simply indicate this on the potential PCO's application for appointment (download application above).  The Executive Committee shall act on the nomination no later than the next meeting of the Executive Committee after nominations are received.

Duties and Responsibilities of PCOs:  The following duties and responsibilities are commonly assigned to PCOs over the course of their tenure in office:

• Keep informed on current issues and candidates; review the party platform.
• Attend District meetings on a regular basis and actively participate in party events and activities.
• Obtain lists of registered voters from the County Auditor's office or District organization.
• Canvass the precinct and become acquainted with the voters residing therein.
• Establish a record of eligible voters and party members within the precinct and provide a list of identified Democrats to your District organization.
• Encourage voter registration within your precinct.
• Distribute party election materials during election campaigns.
• Recommend party members within your precinct to work as Election Board Officers.
• Encourage voters to get out and vote on election day.
• Encourage the use of absentee ballots.
• Hold precinct caucuses at certain selected times for the purpose of adopting resolutions and selecting delegates to legislative, county and state conventions.
• Gather useful data on voters such as: telephone number, e-mail addresses, age, ethnicity, and issues important to them.

Important Tip:  Collect e-mail addresses of Democrats in your precinct. E-mail them for upcoming Party events or send them pertinent resolutions that are adopted by the Central Committee. Share these e-mails with your local and state party organizations so that they can be plugged in to all that is happening with the Party.

The 26th LD Democrats have excellent

training videos for PCOs on their website.  

Please check them out here!

Your role as a member of the Grays Harbor Democratic Central Committee:  Each Precinct Committee Officer is a member of the County Central Committee, and as such is empowered to fulfill the following duties listed below:

• The County Central Committee has the authority to fill vacancies on the party ticket for partisan county offices and for legislative offices in districts entirely within the county. This happens when no candidate files for a position or when a candidate or nominee is disqualified, leaving no candidate of that party for the office.
• The County Central Committee may nominate persons for appointment to the offices stated above if an incumbent of that party resigns.

Minimum expectations of a PCO:  The following responsibilities are suggested to all Precinct Committee Officers as basic to the performance of any PCO in his/her elected or appointed capacity:

• To canvass or telephone poll your precinct in coordination with election strategy.
• To coordinate with campaigns in educating voters and generating interest in the election on behalf of candidates and ballot measures.
• To attend the Legislative District and County Central Committee meetings.

These are the minimum effort level for a PCO to function adequately. There are many other avenues of service to the Democratic Party (committees, etc.) in which PCO's are welcome and encouraged to participate.

If you move from the Precinct in which you were elected to serve as PCO, you should contact the Chair of the District organization and submit your resignation so that a resident of the Precinct can be appointed to serve as PCO for that Precinct. If you have done your job as PCO, the new PCO will probably be someone that you have identified as a potential leader for the party.

Should you be unable to perform the minimum duties of the PCO, you should do your best to find someone who can, and relinquish your position by submitting a letter of resignation to the county chair, or by informing them that you will not seek re-election to the position. It is very important that we have PCOs that are willing to perform their duties.

Proxies

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Proxies are selected by the Precinct Committee Officer. As a Proxy, you will be working closely with your PCO to canvas your precinct, gather and disseminate information and manage Precinct Committees.

If you are asked by your Precinct Committee Officer to become his/her proxy, you'll need to fill out the Proxy application and your PCO will sign it and give a copy of the application to the TCD 1st Vice Chair.

Caretaker Precinct Committee Officers

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Caretaker PCOs are appointed to fill vacant positions in precincts for which the Caretaker PCO does not reside. It is the job of the Caretaker PCO is to recruit a PCO for that precinct. During that period, the Caretaker PCO will fulfill the duties of a PCO but they can not vote at TCD Central Committee meetings.