HB 1749 Periodic review of county election procedures: Sent to the Governor

Secretary of State will review county election procedures at least once every three years; county auditors or county canvassing board required to take corrective action of any problems uncovered in reviews.

HB 1754 Elections by mail ballot: Sent to the Governor

Allows counties to go to all mail voting.

HB 2027 Move the date of the primary: Died in the Senate

Primary election moved to 3rd Tuesday in August; freeze on campaign contributions from Dec 24 through adjournment.

SB 5395 Paper audit trail for electronic voting machines : Sent to the Governor

By January 1, 2006, electronic voting devices must produce a paper record that the voter may view but not remove, before finalizing his or her vote. The paper records must be machine readable for counting purposes. (Currently Snohomish and Yakima are only counties with such machines.).

SB 5499 Election reform--standards for provisional ballots, signatures, identification: Sent to the Governor

Provisional ballots must be visually distinguishable from other ballots (i.e. different color, imprinted with a bar code) and incapable of being tabulated by poll-site counting devices;

Provisional ballot envelope must have a place for voter's name, registered address, date of birth, reason for the provisional ballot, and place for auditor to list disposition of provisional ballot.

The provisional voter shall be given written information how to ascertain whether the vote was counted and if it wasn't, why not. Information on disposition of provisional ballots to be by a free access system such as toll-free telephone number, website, etc.

Secretary of State shall establish guidelines, in consultation with state and local law enforcement, for signature verification processes.

Voters voting at the polls will need identification before signing the poll book. "The identification required in this section can be satisfied by providing a valid photo identification, such as a driver's license or state identification card, student identification card, or tribal identification card, a voter's voter identification issued by a county elections officer, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, or government check or other government document. Any individual who desires to vote in person but cannot provide identification as required by this section shall be issued a provisional ballot." Sec. 7

Return envelope for the mail-in ballot must have the voter's name and address printed, a secrecy flap, a declaration that it is illegal to vote if not a citizen or a convicted felon without voting rights restored. Also illegal to cast a ballot or sign the envelope on behalf of another voter;

A voter who neglects to sign the envelope, or has a mismatched signature, must be contacted by the auditor by phone (no voice mail) or first class mail and instructed on the process for getting the ballot counted; these records are public.

All received absentee return envelopes must be placed in secure locations; opening and processing of return ballot envelopes may begin upon receipt;

Counties over 75,000 are required to count ballots daily;

Only canvassing boards have the authority to reject a ballot as invalid;

County auditors shall prepare and make available at the time of certification, an election reconciliation report that discloses: number of registered voters, number of ballots counted, number or provisional ballots issued, counted, rejected, etc.

SB 5564 Manual of election laws: Sent to the Governor

The Secretary of State must prepare an easy-to-understand manual explaining election laws and rules for use during vote counting, recounting, tabulation and canvassing..

SB 5565 Out-of-state voter information: Sent to the Governor

For out-of-state, overseas and service voters, the outer return envelopes must include information that: return postage is free, date written is considered date of mailing, must be signed by election day, signed declaration is equivalent of voter registration, faxed ballots are allowed if secrecy is waived, ballot may be e-mailed to a voter, etc..

SB 5743 Voter registration improvement and Help America Vote Act implementation: Sent to the Governor

Requires the Secretary of State to quarterly review, update and correct the voter registration list by checking data bases for deaths, different residences, felons, multiple registrations, etc;

Upon conviction of a felony the defendant must sign a statement acknowledging that the right to vote has been lost, voter registration will be cancelled, how their right to vote can be restored, and voting before restoration is a felony;

Secretary of State shall quarterly compare the voter registration list with data bases of the Department of Corrections , Washington State Patrol, Office of the Administrator for the Courts to remove known felons;

County clerks are required to notify the Secretary of State when a former felon's voting right has been restored and Secretary of State will maintain the information as part of the elections data base;

Clear and conspicuous language added to the voter registration form stating that the applicant must be a U.S. citizen and a check box confirming that the applicant is a citizen;

Warning put on the voter registration form that it is a class C felony to provide false information;

No person registering to vote and meeting the qualifications will be disqualified because of a nontraditional address (i.e. shelters, parks, etc.);

Agencies providing voter registration services (i.e. Dept of Licensing, DSHS) shall ask if the applicant wants to register to vote and follow up with questions as to citizenship and age (18) before the next election;

Return envelope for mail ballots must have a box the voter can check to indicate a member of the armed forces or an overseas voter;

Verification notice to voter registration applicants must include a postage prepaid, preaddressed return form for the applicant to provide information