Washington State Democracy Legislation & ACTION NEEDED

The Washington State legislative session is now underway and will end on Apr 27th. This is the FIRST year of the biennium, which lasts 105 days. All bills introduced this year will carry over to next year if they don't pass this session. 

~ ACTION NEEDED ~

PRIORITY BILL:

Washington VOICES Act for Ranked Choice Voting

HB 1448 – Increasing representation and voter participation in local elections.

Status & Hearings: 

• Scheduled for public hearing on Jan 28 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary:  

• The Washington VOICES (Voting Options, Implementation, Compliance, Education & Standards) Act standardizes how Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) must be implemented and establishes best practices for RCV voter education, ballot design, and administration. These guidelines, developed over decades of real-world RCV elections, ensure any jurisdictions that shift to RCV will do so uniformly and without experiencing stumbling blocks. 

• Today, nearly 13 million voters have used RCV in the US and election administrators have run hundreds of successful RCV elections. The Washington VOICES Act will ensure that jurisdictions are required to follow established best practices that have been learned since 2008, so that voters are properly educated on RCV and the implementation of RCV is done transparently and smoothly. 

Please also register your support for HB 1448 HERE.

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Protections Against Voter Reg. Challenges:

HB 1223 – Limiting frivolous claims by modifying forms, processes, and methods of adjudication for voter registration challenges.

Status & Hearings: 

• Scheduled for public hearing on Jan 28 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 1:30 PM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• A person's right to vote may be challenged by another registered voter from the same city or town, or, if the voters reside in an unincorporated area, the same county, or the county prosecuting attorney.

• The challenger must file a separate voter registration challenge form or official electronic voter challenge form for each voter whose registration challenged.

• Challenges must be based on personal knowledge, which for these purposes is defined as firsthand knowledge through experience or observation of the facts upon each ground that the challenge is based and contains any documentation or evidence supporting the facts upon which each ground for the challenge is based.

• Prior to notifying the voter of any challenge, the county auditor may conduct an initial review of the merits of the challenge.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Election Day Holiday:

HB 1116 – Recognizing election day as a state holiday.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on January 14th. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Jan 17th in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. Passed unanimously. Referred to House Appropriations. (Majority Report). You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Scheduled for public hearing on Jan 27 in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Designates Election Day as a legislatively recognized day.

• Encourages governmental entities and educational and cultural organizations to recognize Election Day and engage in educational programming.

• Requires the Office of the Secretary of State to create programming and resources for entities to use in their programming.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Even-Year Elections:

HB 1339 – Shifting general elections for local governments to even-numbered years to increase voter participation.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Jan 21 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE.

• Scheduled for executive session on Jan 31 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 8:00 AM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Permits cities, towns, and certain special purpose districts to choose to hold their elections in even-numbered years instead of odd-numbered years.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Act for Civic Engagment:

HB 1147 – Supporting civic engagement for incarcerated and institutionalized individuals in state custody to promote inclusion and rehabilitation.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on Jan 15th. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Scheduled for executive session on Jan 31 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 8:00 AM (Committee Materials). You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Establishes a right to civic engagement for individuals who are incarcerated or receiving treatment at certain institutions.

• Prohibits agencies from imposing a substantial burden on an individual's exercise of civic engagement rights.

• Allows a person whose civic engagement rights are violated to bring a civil action to enjoin further violations and recover damages.

• Permits courts to increase damage awards up to a certain amount.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Language Access:

HB 1381 – Improving meaningful access to elections by increasing language assistance.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Jan 21 in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations. You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Sets the threshold lower than the federal threshold for when counties must provide language assistance during elections by requiring counties to do so when more than 2.5 percent of citizens in certain language minority groups (LMG) are of voting age or are qualified to register to vote, are limited-English proficient, and have not completed the fifth grade at a rate higher than the national average.

• Creates a pilot program that requires counties with populations between 125,000 and 225,000 to provide language assistance during elections when more than 1.5 percent of citizens in certain LMGs are of voting age or are qualified to register to vote, are limited-English proficient, 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.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Jail Voting Access:

HB 1146 – Improving access and removing barriers to voting in jails and state hospitals.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on January 15th. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• No executive session has yet been scheduled for this bill. 

Bill Summary: 

• Requires county auditors to create a Voting Plan (Plan) for each jail and state hospital within the county, including details about how the jail or hospital will help people who are incarcerated register to vote and access and complete a ballot.

• Requires jails and state hospitals to implement their Plans and provide voter registration information, ballot-related information, and ballots to people who are incarcerated.

• Authorizes the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) to investigate and bring an action against a county, jail, or state hospital for a violation of this act and authorizes the court to award $25,000 per violation to the AGO for remittance to the Office of the Secretary of State to use towards increasing accessibility for voters in jails and state hospitals.

• Requires the Secretary of State to contract with the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance to identify challenges and make recommendations related to voter registration and voting access for people who are incarcerated in jail or patients in a state hospital.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Voting Rights Restoration:

HB 1196 – Revoking a person's voting rights only when convicted of a state crime punishable by death.

Status & Hearings: 

• The bill was scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on January 15th at 1:30 PM, but was removed from the schedule. It has not yet been rescheduled.

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.

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PRIORITY BILL:

Expanding Automatic Voter Registration:

SB 5077 – Concerning expansion of voter registration services by government agencies.

Status & Hearings: 

• A public hearing was held on Jan 21 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• An executive session was held on Jan 24 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. It PASSED out of committee and will be sent to the Senate Rules Committee. You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Requires the Governor to decide which additional local, state, federal, and tribal agencies may offer automatic voter registration.

• Authorizes the Health Benefit Exchange to provide Healthplanfinder information to the Secretary of State to facilitate voter registration.

• Clarifies the voter registration process if the Department of Corrections is designated to provide voter registration services.

• Authorizes the Secretary of State to employ online voter registration through agency and other websites.

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Election Security:

SB 5014 – Concerning election security.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held on Jan 21 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive session held on Jan 24 in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections, but no actions was taken. You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• The secretary of state must approve systems used in the conduct of elections prior to the system being used in conducting any primary or election, including:

1. Voting systems, voting devices, vote tallying systems;

2. Any mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment or platform, including software, firmware, or hardware that is used to provide voter assistance; and

3. Any component part of a voting system that the secretary of state determines requires prior approval before use in an election or primary.

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Voter Pamplets for Primary Elections:

SB 5069 – Requiring the secretary of state to print and distribute a voters' pamphlet for the primary in each even-numbered year and for the general election every year.

Status & Hearings: 

• Public hearing held in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections on January 14th. You can view the hearing HERE. 

• Executive action taken on Jan 17th in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections. Passed out of committee. Referred to Senate Ways & Means. You can view the hearing HERE. 

Bill Summary: 

• Requires the secretary of state to print and distribute a voters' pamphlet prior to the primary in each even-numbered year and prior to the general election every year.

• Provides that local voters' pamphlets printed and distributed by county auditors are not required to provide information on measures and candidates appearing in a voters' pamphlet produced by the secretary of state.

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Addressing Money in Elections:

SJM 8001 – Calling on Congress to exercise its authority under Article V of the United States Constitution to regulate money spent on elections.

Status & Hearings: It has not yet been scheduled for a hearing this session.

Bill Summary: 

(5) States that the amendment does not limit the rights of individual human beings to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free exercise of religion, or freedom of association.

Please register your support for SJM 8001 HERE.

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