This is the last week for Washington state's legislative session in 2024, which officially ends on March 7th. Bills that were still alive and passed their respective chamber had to pass out of the opposite chamber by last Friday, March 1st. These finals days between now and March 7th will focus on finalizing the budget, initiatives, and reconciling bills as needed that have passed both chambers. Once bills have been finalized, they will be sent to the Governor's Desk for signing in to law. Below is a list of bills that have PASSED, including those still being reconciled, and those that did not. 

Bills That PASSED: Being Reconciled as Needed - Then to Governor to Sign!

PRIORITY BILL: Ballot Curing - PASSED!

SB 5890 – Reducing ballot rejection rates through updates to ballot curing, canvassing, reporting, and outreach processes.

Status & Hearings: 

• The substitute bill PASSED the SENATE on January 24 with unanimous support! Yeas, 49; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; Excused, 0. 

• The substitute bill PASSED the HOUSE on February 22 with unanimous support! Yeas, 93; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; Excused, 5.

• The bill will reconciled as needed between the chambers, then it will be referred to the Governor to sign into law.

Brief Summary of Engrossed First Substitute:

• Bill Requires county auditors to contact voters by phone or email when notifying voters their ballot is unsigned or the signature does not match the one on file, if the voter's contact information is available.

• Directs the Secretary of State to adopt statewide standards for signature verification, a training manual for implementing the standards, and tools to confirm compliance with the standards. • Requires county auditors to develop a community outreach plan to educate voters about signature verification requirements.

• Creates a work group to approve a uniform ballot envelope design to be used by all counties in each election beginning with the 2026 primary election.

• Establishes other measures to assist voters and election officials with signature verification requirements.

PRIORITY BILL: Civic Health - PASSED!

SCR 8414 – Creating a joint select committee on civic health.

Status & Hearings: 

• The substitute bill PASSED the SENATE on January 31 with unanimous support: Yeas, 47; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; Excused, 2.

• The substitute bill PASSED the HOUSE on February 27 with unanimous support: Yeas, 95; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; Excused, 3.

• The bill will reconciled as needed between the chambers, then it will be referred to the Governor to sign into law.

Bill Summary:

• Establishes the Joint Select Committee on Civic Health (CCH) to build upon the work of the Project for Civic Health.

Voter Verification Pilot Project - PASSED!

SB 6269 – Establishes an alternative voter verification options pilot project.

Status & Hearings: 

• The substitute bill PASSED the SENATE on February 12 with unanimous support: Yeas, 49; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; Excused, 0.

• The substitute bill PASSED the HOUSE on February 27 with unanimous support: Yeas, 58; Nays, 37; Absent, 0; Excused, 3.

• It will be referred to the Governor to sign into law.

Bill Summary & FINAL BILL REPORT - Effective: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

• Requires the Secretary of State to establish an alternative verification options pilot project for the purpose of the development and testing of supplemental methods, other than signature verification, to verify that a ballot was filled out and returned by the intended voter.

Harassment of Election Officials - PASSED!

HB 1241 – Addressing harassment.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill PASSED the HOUSE with bipartisan support on January 11: Yeas, 86; Nays, 11; Absent, 0; Excused, 1. The bill has moved to the Senate.

• The bill PASSED the SENATE with bipartisan support on February 22:Yeas, 45; Nays, 4; Absent, 0; Excused, 0. 

• The bill will reconciled as needed between the chambers, then it will be referred to the Governor to sign into law.

Bill Summary - Senate Amended: 

• Creating the Class C Felony of Harassing Election Officials.

• Allows election workers who are harassed to apply for the address confidentiality program.

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Election Security - PASSED!

SB 5843 – Concerning security breaches of election systems and election-related systems.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill PASSED the SENATE on February 2 with bipartisan support:Yeas, 46; Nays, 3; Absent, 0; Excused, 0. 

• The bill PASSED the HOUSE on February 27: Yeas, 58; Nays, 37; Absent, 0; Excused, 3. 

• It will be referred to the Governor to sign into law.

Bill Summary & FINAL BILL REPORT - Effective: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

• Requires every county to install and maintain an intrusion detection system to monitor their network and to disclose certain malicious activity or breaches of security of information technology systems.

• Authorizes the Secretary of State to certify the results of an election if a county canvassing board refuses to certify the results of the election without cause.

• Establishes violations and penalties related to election interference, including prohibited interference by election observers, destruction of voted ballots and certain election supplies and materials, interference with the operation of a voting center, and unauthorized access to election administration locations and systems.

Campaign Advertising Disclosure - PASSED!

HB 2032 – Reducing the size of yard signs that are exempt from certain political advertising disclosure requirements.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill PASSED the HOUSE on January 25 with strong bipartisan support: Yeas, 91; Nays, 2; Absent, 0; excused, 5.

• The bill PASSED the SENATE on February 29 with unanimous support: Yeas, 49; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; excused, 0.

• The bill will reconciled as needed between the chambers, then it will be referred to the Governor to sign into law.

Bill Summary - As Amended by the Senate: 

• Requires political yard signs to include the sponsor's name and address.

Voter Registration Accuracy - PASSED!

HB 1962 – Improving voter registration list accuracy by improving voter address change processes for county election offices and voters.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill PASSED the HOUSE on February 9 with unanimous support: Yeas, 97; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; Excused, 1. 

• The bill PASSED the SENATE on February 28 with unanimous support: Yeas, 49; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; Excused, 0. 

• The bill has been delivered to the Governor to sign into law.

Bill Summary - FINAL BILL - Effective - This act takes effect June 1, 2025. 

• Makes the methods of transferring a voter registration address that are currently only available to persons moving within a county available to persons moving from one county to another.

• Directs county auditors to notify the county auditor in a voter's new county of residence of change of address information rather than canceling the registration or placing the voter on inactive status.

Bills That Did NOT Pass This Session:

PRIORITY BILL: Even Year Elections:

HB 1932 – Allows local governments to shift general elections to even-numbered years to increase voter participation.

Status & Hearings: 

• The amended substitute bill PASSED the HOUSE on February 8th: Yeas, 52; Nays, 45; Absent, 0; Excused, 1. 

• The bill had a hearing and passed out of the Senate State Government & Elections Committee, but did not make it out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

Bill Summary - Current Amended Senate Version: 

• Permits cities and towns to choose to hold their elections in even numbered years instead of odd-numbered years.

PRIORITY BILL: Statewide Standards for Ranked Choice Voting:

PRIORITY BILL: Voting Rights Restoration:

HB 2030 – Revoking a person's voting rights only when convicted of a state crime punishable by death.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill had a hearing in the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee, but no executive action was ever taken.

Bill Summary: 

• This bill would revoke a person's voting rights only when convicted of a state crime punishable by death.

• It would amend Washington state's RCW (Revised Code of Washington) definition of "infamous crime" as a state crime punishable by death.

• This definition applies for purposes of voter qualifications and does not apply when the term "infamous crime" is used in other titles of the Revised Code of Washington, unless otherwise stated or the context requires otherwise.

PRIORITY BILL: Public Financing of Elections for Legislative Races: 

HB 1755 – Establishing the democracy voucher program for contributions to state legislative candidates.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill was referred to the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee, but did not get a hearing.

Bill Summary: 

• Creates a democracy voucher program (similar to Seattle's Democracy Voucher Program) to publicly finance legislative political campaigns.

• The program would provide Washington state residents four $25 vouchers that can be pledged to eligible candidates running for state legislative district offices.

• It allows eligible WA residents to participate in local government by supporting campaigns and/or running for office themselves.

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HB 2023 – Improving meaningful access to elections by increasing language assistance.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill PASSED the HOUSE with bipartisan support on February 13th - Yeas, 84; Nays, 13; Absent, 0; Excused, 1, but did not move forward in the Senate.

Bill Summary: 

• Requires counties to provide language assistance during elections when more than 2.5 percent of voting-age citizens in certain language minority groups in the county do not speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process and have not completed the fifth grade at a rate higher than the national average.

• Requires the Secretary of State to determine which counties are subject to these language assistance provisions.

Voter Registration Challenges:

SB 5856 – Concerning voter registration challenges.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill PASSED the Senate on January 31 with unanimous support - Yeas, 48; Nays, 0; Absent, 0; Excused. Floor amendments were adopted. 

• The bill had an executive session passed out of the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee on February 21. It also passed out of House Rules, but did not get a vote on the House Floor.

Bill Summary - House Version: 

• Permits a person to challenge a voter's registration for not living at the address provided if the voter has registered to vote in another state more recently than in Washington.

• Removes the requirement that a person who challenges a voter's registration for residing at a different address must search telephone directories or voter registration databases of other states, and specifies that the certified letter a challenger is required to send must be on a form provided by the Office of the Secretary of State.

• Specifies procedures for county auditors to follow to attempt to resolve a voter challenge related to a voter's residency prior to a hearing.

• Permits the county auditor to designate someone to preside over a voter challenge hearing.

• Specifies that a filing officer may not submit the name of an unqualified candidate for placement on the ballot, and provides procedures to conduct elections if a candidate on the ballot is unqualified.

Competing Ballot Measures:

HB 2455 – Providing local governments options regarding elections for competing ballot measures.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill had a hearing and passed out of the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee, but did not make it out of the House Rules Committee. 

Bill Summary: 

• Permits local governments to use different ballot titles and voting processes for competing ballot measures—i.e., initiatives to the local government versus alternative measures proposed by the local government—than the ballot titles and voting processes used for competing statewide ballot measures.

Impacts Ranked Choice Voting:

WE WERE IN OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL!

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