Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research | BILL ANALYSIS |
State Government & Tribal Relations Committee |
HB 1819
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent. |
Brief Description: Requiring additional information in reconciliation reports.
Sponsors: Representatives Appleton, Hudgins, Dolan, Bergquist and Pellicciotti.
Brief Summary of Bill |
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Hearing Date: 2/13/19
Staff: Desiree Omli (786-7105).
Background:
Each county auditor conducts all general and primary elections within the county and is responsible for processing ballots. The county canvassing board canvasses the ballot returns and certifies election results. The results must be certified 14 days after a primary or special election and 21 days after a general election.
The county auditor must prepare an election reconciliation report at the time of the election certification. The report must be available on the county auditor's website and submitted to the Secretary of State (Secretary).
The report must include the number of:
registered voters;
ballots issued, received, counted, and rejected;
provisional ballots issued, received, counted, and rejected;
federal write-in ballots received, counted, and rejected;
overseas and service ballots issued, received, counted, and rejected by mail, email, or facsimile;
nonoverseas and nonservice ballots sent and received by email, web ite link, or facsimile;
nonoverseas and nonservice ballots that were rejected for:
failing to send an original or hard copy of the ballot by the certification deadline; or
any other reason, including the reason for rejection;
voters credited with voting;
replacement ballots requested, issued, received, counted, rejected; and
any other information the county auditor or Secretary deems necessary to reconcile the number of ballots counted with the number of voters credited with voting, and to maintain an audit trail.
Summary of Bill:
The information required to be included in the reconciliation report is modified to require that the number of ballots received, counted, and rejected must be categorized by precinct. For any ballots that are reported as rejected, the county auditor must report the number of ballots rejected for the following reasons:
a missing or mismatched signature;
the ballot was postmarked after the deadline to vote;
the voter already received credit for voting in the same election;
the voter failed to send an original or hard copy of the ballot by the certification deadline, if the ballot was sent by email or facsimile; or
any other reason, for which the county auditor must specify the reason in the report.
Additional information is required on the reconciliation report, including the number of:
ballots cast using a direct recording electronic voting device or other in-person ballot marking system, and ballots counted and rejected;
ballots from voters using a nonsignature distinctive mark or symbol to sign the ballot declaration, categorized by ballot time, that are received, counted, and rejected;
duplicated ballots;
discrepancies found during the audit of duplicated ballots; and
ballots deposited in a ballot box.
The county auditor must reconcile the total number of ballots that are issued, received, counted, and rejected with the number of ballots as categorized by precinct that are issued, received, counted, and rejected. Any discrepancies must be documented in the reconciliation report, including the reason for the discrepancy.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Requested on February 10, 2019.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.