OLYMPIA – Voting is a fundamental freedom and a critical element of our democracy. Elections should be fair, accessible, and have as few obstacles as possible.
After passing the Voting Rights Act already this year, the state House of Representatives passed two more bills today designed to eliminate barriers to voting.
HB 1294 allows agencies authorized to provide voter registration through the Motor Voter Act to preregister a person to vote at the age of 16 or 17.
Rep. Steve Bergquist (D-Renton), the prime sponsor, spoke in support of the bill on the House floor.
“This voter registration bill will help get kids engaged in the process,” said Bergquist. “When I had kids in class that were registered to vote, they tuned in more.”
HB 1428 Changes the deadline for registering online or in person from eight days to 11 days for any election.
Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien) said, “There is no good reason to have the voter registration deadlines be on different days.”
House Democrats will continue working to ensure the fundamental freedom of voting comes with as few barriers as possible.
A complete list of bills approved by the House today can be found here. The bills now go to the Senate for further consideration.