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                           SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 8222

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State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By Senators Roach and Madsen; by request of Secretary of State.

Read first time February 12, 1991.  Referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.Clarifying voter qualifications.

     BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:

     THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article VI of the Constitution of the state of Washington by repealing sections 1A and 7 in their entirety and amending sections 1, 3, 4, and 5 to read as follows:

     Article VI, section 1.  Except for persons disqualified by Article VI, section 3 of this Constitution, all ((persons of the age of eighteen years or over who are)) citizens of the United States ((and)) who are at least eighteen years of age, who have lived in the state((,)) and county((, and precinct)) thirty days immediately preceding the election at which they offer to vote, ((except those disqualified by Article VI, section 3 of this Constitution, shall be)) and who comply with voter registration requirements established by the state legislature are entitled to vote at all elections except those special district elections at which the legislature has established ownership of property as a prerequisite to voting.  Residents of the state of Washington who are not registered and who are absent from the state are entitled to vote by absentee ballot in the manner provided by congress and the state legislature.

     Article VI, section 1A is repealed.

     Article VI, section 3.  All persons convicted of ((infamous crime unless restored to their civil rights)) a felony and all persons while they are judicially declared mentally incompetent are excluded from the elective franchise.  The right to vote shall be restored upon completion of the sentence or upon the judicial declaration of mental competency.

     Article VI, section 4.  For the purpose of voting and eligibility to office no person ((shall be)) is deemed to have gained a residence by reason of his or her presence or lost it by reason of his or her absence((,)) while in the civil or military service of the state or of the United States, ((nor)) while a student at any institution of learning, ((nor while kept at public expense at any poor-house or other asylum, nor)) or while confined in ((public)) prison((, nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of this state or of the United States, or of the high seas)).

     Article VI, section 5.  Voters shall in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest ((during their attendance at elections and in going to, and returning therefrom.  No elector shall be required to do military duty on the day of any election except in time of war or public danger)) while voting.

     Article VI, section 7 is repealed.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of the foregoing constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state.