Z-0752.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1236

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1995 Regular Session

By Representatives Reams, R. Fisher, Talcott, Thompson, D. Schmidt, Huff, Scott, Regala, Costa, Robertson and Conway; by request of Secretary of State

Read first time 01/18/95.  Referred to Committee on Government Operations.

Expediting processing of absentee ballots.

    AN ACT Relating to processing of incoming absentee ballots; and amending RCW 29.36.060.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 29.36.060 and 1991 c 81 s 32 are each amended to read as follows:

    The opening and subsequent processing of ((return envelopes)) returned absentee ballots for any primary or election may begin on or after the tenth day prior to such primary or election.  The ((opening of the security envelopes and)) tabulation of absentee ballots shall not commence until after 8:00 o'clock p.m. on the day of the primary or election.  For the purposes of this section, processing includes the verification of signatures and the opening of the return envelopes.

    ((After opening the return envelopes,)) The county canvassing board shall place all of the ballots and envelopes in containers that can be secured with numbered seals.  These sealed containers shall be stored in a secure location ((until after 8:00 o'clock p.m. of the day of the primary or election)).  Absentee ballots that are to be tabulated on an electronic vote tallying system may be taken from the inner envelopes and all the normal procedural steps may be performed to prepare these ballots for tabulation before sealing the containers.  For purposes of this section, tabulation is any process of counting ballots and reporting election returns in any manner.

Beginning at 12:00 o'clock noon on the day of the primary or election, absentee ballots that are to be tabulated on an electronic vote tallying system may be removed from the sealed containers and fed into the electronic vote tabulating equipment, so long as the process of feeding the ballots into the equipment does not produce election returns in any manner before 8:00 o'clock p.m.

    The canvassing board shall examine the postmark, statement, and signature on each return envelope containing the security envelope and absentee ballot.  They shall verify that the voter's signature is the same as that in the registration files for that voter.  For absentee voters other than out-of-state voters, overseas voters, and service voters, if the postmark is illegible, the date on the return envelope to which the voter attests shall determine the validity, as to the time of voting, of that absentee ballot under this chapter.  For any absentee voter, a variation between the signature of the voter on the return envelope and that in the registration files due to the substitution of initials or the use of common nicknames is permitted so long as the surname and handwriting are clearly the same.

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