Vacancies on a board of county commissioners consisting of five members shall be filled as provided in RCW 36.32.070, except that:

(1) Whenever there are three or more vacancies, the governor shall appoint one or more commissioners until there are a total of three commissioners;

(2) Whenever there are two vacancies, the three commissioners shall fill one of the vacancies;

(3) Whenever there is one vacancy, the four commissioners shall fill the single vacancy; and

(4) Whenever there is a vacancy after the general election in a year that the position appears on the ballot and before the start of the next term, the term of the successor who is of the same party as the incumbent may commence once he or she has qualified as defined in RCW 29A.04.133 and shall continue through the term for which he or she was elected.

Contingent effective date—2003 c 238: See note following RCW 36.16.110.