SB 5463.E - DIGEST

(DIGEST AS ENACTED)

Authorizes a pilot project for military and overseas voters to vote over the Internet.

Provides that, 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).

Provides that 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.

Provides that 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.

Directs the secretary of state to collect and publish data on the number of overseas and service voters who requested to participate in the pilot project, the number of ballots received electronically, the number of ballots rejected, and the reasons ballots were rejected.

Provides that, 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.

Requires that 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.

Expires January 31, 2005.