| Passed by the Senate June 5, 2003 YEAS 45 ________________________________________ President of the Senate Passed by the House June 5, 2003 YEAS 89 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives | I, Milton H. Doumit, Jr., Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED SENATE BILL 5463 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Secretary | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2003 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/27/2003. Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.
AN ACT Relating to a pilot project for military and overseas voters to vote over the Internet; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 Notwithstanding any provisions of Title 29
RCW, between the effective date of this act and December 31, 2004, the
counties of Thurston, Pierce, Kitsap, Spokane, Snohomish, Island, and
Cowlitz may participate in the pilot project Secure Electronic
Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE) authorized in the National
Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 107-107). Participation of the
counties must be approved by the secretary of state and implementation
must be in compliance with standards and regulations established by the
federal voting assistance program of the United States Department of
Defense. Between the effective date of this act and December 31, 2004,
participating counties must use the SERVE pilot project for all
elections for which the SERVE voting system is available for use.
The SERVE pilot project must allow registered overseas voters, as
defined in RCW 29.01.117, and registered service voters, as defined in
RCW 29.01.155, to cast their votes electronically, including over the
Internet and the World Wide Web. Except for the provisions of RCW
29.36.290 regarding the method for transmitting absentee voting
materials and of RCW 29.36.310 regarding the method for processing
absentee ballots, votes must be cast and counted in conformity with
Title 29 RCW. The SERVE voting system is exempt from the requirements
of RCW 29.33.300(6) and 29.33.320(6). Election officials must rely
upon the procedures established by the United States Department of
Defense for the security, secrecy, and validation of votes cast
electronically, but the secretary of state is responsible for verifying
the accuracy, secrecy, independence, and security of cast ballots.
Votes transmitted over an electronic medium, such as the Internet or
the World Wide Web, to the election authority under Title 29 RCW are
subject to recount and election contest requirements, but not on the
grounds that the vote is invalid or suspect because it was cast
electronically. The tabulation of SERVE pilot project votes is subject
to the tabulation and observer requirements of RCW 29.54.025. The
secretary of state must make certain and confirm that a dependable and
accurate ballot tracking procedure is in place for purposes of a
statutory recount, as defined in chapter 29.64 RCW.
The secretary of state and participating counties must make every
effort, including media press releases, web site information, and
standard mail, to inform registered overseas and service voters of the
SERVE pilot project. While county election officials and the secretary
of state must inform qualified voters of the SERVE pilot project,
communication with participating voters must be similar in nature to
communication with voters not participating in the SERVE pilot project.
The e-mail addresses of all participating voters must be made available
for political purposes, as required by RCW 29.04.095 through 29.04.120.
The secretary of state must collect and publish data on the number
of overseas and service voters who requested to participate in the
pilot project, the number of overseas and service voters who
participated in the pilot project, the number of ballots received
electronically, the number of ballots rejected, and the reasons ballots
were rejected. The information must be collected from the
participating counties and from designated participating voters. By
January 31, 2005, the secretary of state must compile and present a
report on the results of the pilot project to the state government
committee of the house of representatives and the government operations
and elections committee of the senate. In addition to the data
collected from participating counties and voters, the secretary of
state must provide a complete description of the funding and costs of
the SERVE pilot project, including the cost per vote and detailed
information on state and county staffing expenditures.
The secretary of state must terminate the SERVE pilot project
within a participating county if, anytime between the effective date of
this act and December 31, 2004, the participating county fails to use
the SERVE pilot project in any election for which the SERVE voting
system is available for use.
This act expires January 31, 2005.