Snohomish County Candidate Filing Opens Monday — If You’re Thinking About Running for Office, You Have Five Days
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Q: When does Snohomish County 2026 candidate filing open and close?
A: Filing opens at 8 a.m. Monday, May 4, 2026, and closes at 5 p.m. Friday, May 8, 2026. Candidates can file online through the Washington Secretary of State at sos.wa.gov/elections, or in person at Snohomish County Elections, 3000 Rockefeller Avenue, Admin West Building, 1st Floor, Everett.
If you have ever told a friend “somebody should run against this person,” Monday is the morning when “somebody” turns into “you, by Friday at five o’clock.”
Snohomish County’s 2026 candidate filing window opens at 8 a.m. on Monday, May 4, and closes at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 8. That’s the entire window. Five business days. After Friday at 5 p.m., the November 2026 ballot is locked, and any office without a candidate filed against the incumbent simply re-elects the incumbent by default.
For Everett residents, that means this week is when the actual list of choices for November gets written — not by a campaign, not by a party, but by whoever walks in or logs on between Monday morning and Friday evening.
What Changes for Residents This Week
The most important thing for residents to know: the November 2026 ballot is decided this week, not in November. Any race with only one filed candidate is over before the primary even runs. Any race with two or more candidates from the same party in a top-two primary state like Washington heads to the August 4 primary, where the top two finishers — regardless of party — advance to November.
That’s it. That’s the structure. Filing week is the gate. Everything downstream — the August primary, the October mailing of voters’ pamphlets, the November general — is downstream of who walked in this week.
The Everett City Council itself is not on the 2026 ballot. The next Everett Council seats up are the at-large positions 6 and 7, scheduled for the end of 2027. So if you were thinking about a run at City Hall, this is not your year. But several other offices that touch life in Everett are open this cycle, including Snohomish County Council seats, county-wide constitutional offices, and judicial positions covering the courts that handle most everyday legal matters in the city.
The full official list of offices on the 2026 ballot is maintained by Snohomish County Elections at the 2026 Candidate Guide linked from snohomishcountywa.gov/5729/Run-for-Office. Some offices file with Snohomish County Elections, others file with the Washington Secretary of State directly — the Candidate Guide tells you which is which for every position.
How Filing Works
Snohomish County Elections has set up four ways to file:
Online (recommended). File through the Washington Secretary of State’s Candidate Filing portal at sos.wa.gov/elections. This is the path the county pushes hardest because it timestamps automatically, accepts payment, and produces a confirmation email. Most candidates file this way.
In person. Walk in to Snohomish County Elections at 3000 Rockefeller Avenue, Admin West Building, 1st Floor, Everett, WA 98201. The office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday during the filing window. Bring identification. Bring payment for the filing fee.
By email. Send a Declaration of Candidacy to elections@snoco.gov.
By fax. Send to (425) 355-3444.
The phone number for questions is (425) 388-3444. If you have any doubt about which office you’re filing for, which jurisdiction the office sits in, or whether your address falls inside the right district, call before you file. A misfiled candidacy is harder to fix than a delayed one.
The Filing Fee
Most positions with a salary require a filing fee equal to 1% of the annual salary for the office. So a position that pays $100,000 a year requires a $1,000 filing fee, due at the time of filing or no later than 5 p.m. Friday, May 8.
Two important practical notes on the fee:
First, the 1% rule is real money for some offices. If you are running for a position that pays well, plan for the fee in advance — it must be paid during the filing window itself.
Second, candidates who cannot afford the filing fee can submit a petition with signatures of registered voters in the jurisdiction in lieu of the fee. The signature requirements vary by office. Snohomish County Elections has the petition forms and the signature-count requirements for each position, available through the Run for Office page on the county website or by calling the elections office directly.
What Sits Above and Around This Week
Filing week sits inside a longer civic calendar that residents will see roll out across 2026:
August 4 is the primary election. For races with three or more candidates, the top two advance regardless of party. For races with one or two candidates total, there is effectively no primary — both candidates simply move on to November.
November 3 is the general election. Mail-in ballots get mailed roughly two weeks before election day. Washington is a vote-by-mail state with same-day registration through election day at the elections office.
Ballot certification typically runs two to three weeks after election day. As the desk’s protocol reminds us: until the Snohomish County Auditor’s office certifies a result, every count is preliminary. November 3 results are not the final results. They are the early count.
The sequence matters because what happens this week — who files for what office — determines what voters in Everett will see when their ballots arrive in October. If nobody files for an open seat, the seat stays open by default rules and gets appointed. If only the incumbent files, the incumbent is re-elected without a contest. If two or more file, voters get a choice.
What to Do Next
If you are thinking about running:
- Pull up the 2026 Candidate Guide from snohomishcountywa.gov/5729/Run-for-Office before Monday morning. Identify the office, the salary, and the filing-fee amount.
- Decide whether to file online (sos.wa.gov/elections) or in person at 3000 Rockefeller Avenue, Everett.
- Have payment ready — credit card if filing online, check or card if filing in person.
- File during business hours. If you wait until late Friday afternoon, you are competing with everyone else who waited.
If you are thinking about supporting someone else who should run:
- Send them this article today. They have until Friday.
- Help them identify the office, find the filing fee, and walk through the Candidate Guide.
- If you live in the same district, ask them whether they would sign their name if you filed.
If you are not running but want to follow what fills out this week:
- Snohomish County Elections will post the candidate list shortly after filing closes Friday at 5 p.m. The list lives at the Candidates and Measures on the Ballot page (snohomishcountywa.gov/5722/See-Whats-on-the-Ballot).
- Washington’s statewide candidate list is at voter.votewa.gov.
- The Daily Herald, My Everett News, and the Snohomish County Tribune all cover filing-week results once the list is final.
What This Costs the Public
Filing week itself costs the public almost nothing — Snohomish County Elections runs as a baseline function of the Auditor’s office regardless of how many candidates file. The downstream cost is the August primary, which the county runs whether two candidates file or two hundred. The election infrastructure is paid for; the unknown variable is whether residents get a real choice on the ballot.
That is the actual stake of filing week. Not money. Not partisan advantage. Just whether November 2026 is a real election or a paperwork formality for offices Everett residents pay for and live under.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does candidate filing open and close in Snohomish County?
Filing opens at 8 a.m. Monday, May 4, 2026, and closes at 5 p.m. Friday, May 8, 2026. There are no extensions for any reason.
Where can I file as a candidate?
Online at sos.wa.gov/elections (recommended), in person at Snohomish County Elections, 3000 Rockefeller Avenue, Admin West Building, 1st Floor, Everett, WA 98201, by email to elections@snoco.gov, or by fax to (425) 355-3444.
Is the Everett City Council on the 2026 ballot?
No. The next Everett City Council seats up for election are at-large positions 6 and 7, which are on the November 2027 ballot. The 2026 ballot includes other positions that affect Everett, including Snohomish County Council seats, county-wide offices, and judicial positions.
How much does it cost to file?
For most paid offices, the filing fee is 1% of the office’s annual salary. The fee must be paid at filing or no later than 5 p.m. Friday, May 8. Candidates who cannot afford the fee can file a petition with signatures of registered voters in the jurisdiction in lieu of payment.
What happens if nobody files against an incumbent?
The incumbent is re-elected by default. There is no general-election ballot contest for an unopposed seat under the same party.
When is the 2026 primary?
August 4, 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. Washington is a top-two primary state — the top two finishers in any primary advance to November regardless of party.
Where can I find the official list of every office on the 2026 ballot?
The 2026 Candidate Guide on the Snohomish County Elections “Run for Office” page (snohomishcountywa.gov/5729/Run-for-Office) lists every office, the filing fee, and whether the office files with the county or with the state. The statewide list lives at voter.votewa.gov.
Who do I call if I have questions about filing?
Snohomish County Elections at (425) 388-3444. Call before you file rather than after.
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