Precinct Committee Officers will be elected for two-year terms in the Primary Election on Tuesday, August 7. To be elected, candidates for PCO positions must file for candidacy through the Island County Auditor’s office the week of May 14 through 18. There will be no fee for filing, and the process can be completed online by visiting the Island County Auditor’s Elections Page during filing week. Although the Auditor strongly encourages online filing, candidates can also file by mail by using this form: DecCand_PCO_2012-final. Read this statement from the Secretary of State about Precinct Committee Officer Elections for more information: 12-02 Precinct Committee Officer Elections
All-New Precinct Boundaries in 2012.
Island County precincts were re-districted earlier this year. This resulted in reducing the number of precincts from 83 to 48. All of the precinct boundaries have been changed and all have been re-named. New voter registration cards were mailed on May 1, and will give you the name of your precinct. Follow this link for a map of the county’s precincts: Precinct Map.
A precinct is the basic unit of Democratic Party organization, and will include as many as 1,500 voters. Democratic Precinct Committee Officers are elected by the voters in their precincts every two years, or can be appointed by the Chair of the Island County Democratic Central Committee (also known as “Island County Democrats”).
What Does a Precinct Committee Officer Do?
PCOs are the official voices of the Democrats in their precincts - but they also tend to be willing volunteers who help Island County Democrats achieve its mission of electing Democrats to office. The greatest tools of the PCO are the telephone, email and the voter database maintained by Washington State Democrats.
The basic duties of a PCO include:
• Keeping informed about local issues and candidates.
• Coordinating with campaigns in educating voters and generating interest in the election on behalf of candidates and ballot measures.
• Attending Legislative District and County organization meetings to discuss local issues, learn local Democratic campaign strategies, vote on candidate and issue endorsements, vote for party leaders, and receive and share information on reaching out to voters.
As volunteers, PCOs often perform these jobs:
• Using our voter database to contact as many voters in your precinct as possible each year, and using those contacts to update database information.
• Making sure Democratic voters are registered, and encouraging infrequent voters to vote.
• Helping other precincts input new information learned from voters – such as email addresses, new phone numbers, issues important to a voter - into our database.
• Helping with Democratic events, such as caucuses, fundraisers, etc.
• Helping Democratic candidates campaign for election.
If you are interested in becoming a Democratic PCO in Island County, please email Duane Fulgham, Chair of Island County Democrats. If your precinct already has a PCO, you can discuss being appointed as PCO for a precinct other than the one in which you live. We welcome your help in electing Democrats to office in Island County.
