While other states around the country are passing all kinds of restrictions on voters, the Washington House of Representatives passed four bills this week emphasizing fairness, efficiency, and yes, inclusion in our elections system.
The legislation addresses what is, frankly, a scandalous, beyond-inconvenient truth. In the historic 2008 election, more than 6 million eligible, qualified American citizens didn’t vote. The Evergreen State is no frontrunner in the voting department, either. Turnout here in our last general was far under 50 percent.
Enter the four, aforementioned elections-system measures.
- House Bill 1103 requires county auditors to develop a uniform ballot format for use in their elections by 2022. Right now, only 10 of the 39 Washington counties have voting systems that require the voter to mark the ballot by filling in an oval. The goal is to modernize voting machines, thus building consistency and making the voting process itself easier.
- House Bill 1267 would change the time period for in-person and online voter-registration to 11 days before an election. The bill also states that registrations sent by postal mail must be submitted no later than 28 days before an election. Allowing people to register closer to Election Day allows ballot access to the procrastinators among us.
- House Bill 1279 allows 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote when they apply for a driver’s license or identicard. It’s very important to engage young people in the elections-process as soon as possible. Voter-registration information is already available at the Department of Licensing, and using it would make the registration process far more efficient and inclusive.
- House Bill 1413, which is commonly known as the Voting Rights Act, emphasizes equal voting opportunity in political subdivisions where communities of color have historically been disenfranchised. Citizens in every neighborhood should have the very same voice as any other neighborhood in their local elections. The measure prohibits the drawing of election districts in a manner that prevents members of a race, color, or language-group from electing candidates of their choice or exercising influence in an election
All these measures are now in the Senate — where, by the way, they met an untimely death last year. We’ll see what happens this year.