SENATE BILL REPORT

HB 2332

As Reported By Senate Committee On:

State & Local Government, February 25, 2002

Title:  An act relating to a statewide voter registration data base.

Brief Description:  Directing a statewide voter registration data base.

Sponsors:  Representatives Romero, McDermott, Schmidt, Woods, Ruderman, Miloscia, Esser and Kagi; by request of Secretary of State.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  State & Local Government:  2/25/02 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Majority Report:  Do pass.

Signed by Senators Gardner, Chair; Fairley, Vice Chair; Hale, Haugen, Horn, Keiser, Kline, T. Sheldon and Swecker.

Staff:  Mac Nicholson (786‑7445)

Background:  Voter registration data bases are maintained at the county level.  Some legislators have recognized that statewide voter registration systems are important tools for protecting the integrity of elections.

Summary of Bill:  The Secretary of State must work with county auditors and voter registration experts to design and initiate the creation of a statewide voter registration data base.  At a minimum, the voter registration data base must be designed to identify duplicate and suspected duplicate voters; screen against the Department of Corrections data base to aid in the cancellation of voter registration of felons; provide up-to-date signatures of voters for the purposes of initiative signature checking; provide for a comparison between the Department of Licensing change of address data base and the voter registration data base; provide online access to county auditors for realtime duplicate checking and update capabilities; provide for cancellation of voter registration for persons who have moved to other states and surrendered their Washington drivers' licenses; and ensure that each county maintains legal control of the registration records for that county.  The Secretary of State must report its findings to the Legislature by February 1, 2003.  The act expires January 1, 2005.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Available.

Effective Date:  The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect on May 1, 2002.

Testimony For:  The state can accurately maintain voter registration with a statewide database.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  David Elliott, Secretary of State's Office (pro).