BILL REQ. #:  Z-0908.1 

Prefiled 1/6/2006. Read first time 01/09/2006.   Referred to Committee on State Government Operations & Accountability.

     AN ACT Relating to technical changes to election laws; amending RCW 29A.04.530, 29A.04.611, 29A.24.091, 29A.24.101, 29A.24.111, 29A.40.110, 29A.40.150, and 29A.48.050; and repealing RCW 29A.04.157, 29A.04.610, 29A.20.110, 29A.20.130, 29A.20.200, 29A.24.200, 29A.28.010, 29A.28.020, 29A.36.190, 29A.44.220, 29A.46.140, 29A.46.150, 29A.46.210, 29A.46.220, 29A.46.230, 29A.46.240, 29A.46.250, and 29A.72.220.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 29A.04.530 and 2005 c 243 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     The secretary of state shall:
     (1) Establish and operate, or provide by contract, training and certification programs for state and county elections administration officials and personnel, including training on the various types of election law violations and discrimination, and training programs for political party observers which conform to the rules for such programs established under RCW 29A.04.630;
     (2) ((Establish guidelines, in consultation with state and local law enforcement or certified document examiners, for signature verification processes. All election personnel assigned to verify signatures must receive training on the guidelines;
     (3))) Administer tests for state and county officials and personnel who have received such training and issue certificates to those who have successfully completed the training and passed such tests;
     (((4))) (3) Maintain a record of those individuals who have received such training and certificates; and
     (((5))) (4) Provide the staffing and support services required by the board created under RCW 29A.04.510.

Sec. 2   RCW 29A.04.611 and 2004 c 271 s 151 are each amended to read as follows:
     The secretary of state as chief election officer shall make reasonable rules in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW not inconsistent with the federal and state election laws to effectuate any provision of this title and to facilitate the execution of its provisions in an orderly, timely, and uniform manner relating to any federal, state, county, city, town, and district elections. To that end the secretary shall assist local election officers by devising uniform forms and procedures.
     In addition to the rule-making authority granted otherwise by this section, the secretary of state shall make rules governing the following provisions:
     (1) The maintenance of voter registration records;
     (2) The preparation, maintenance, distribution, review, and filing of precinct maps;
     (3) Standards for the design, layout, and production of ballots;
     (4) The examination and testing of voting systems for certification;
     (5) The source and scope of independent evaluations of voting systems that may be relied upon in certifying voting systems for use in this state;
     (6) Standards and procedures for the acceptance testing of voting systems by counties;
     (7) Standards and procedures for testing the programming of vote tallying software for specific primaries and elections;
     (8) Standards and procedures for the preparation and use of each type of certified voting system including procedures for the operation of counting centers where vote tallying systems are used;
     (9) Standards and procedures to ensure the accurate tabulation and canvassing of ballots;
     (10) Consistency among the counties of the state in the preparation of ballots, the operation of vote tallying systems, and the canvassing of primaries and elections;
     (11) Procedures to ensure the secrecy of a voter's ballot when a small number of ballots are counted at the polls or at a counting center;
     (12) The use of substitute devices or means of voting when a voting device at the polling place is found to be defective, the counting of votes cast on the defective device, the counting of votes cast on the substitute device, and the documentation that must be submitted to the county auditor regarding such circumstances;
     (13) Procedures for the transportation of sealed containers of voted ballots or sealed voting devices;
     (14) The acceptance and filing of documents via electronic facsimile;
     (15) Voter registration applications and records;
     (16) The use of voter registration information in the conduct of elections;
     (17) The coordination, delivery, and processing of voter registration records accepted by driver licensing agents or the department of licensing;
     (18) The coordination, delivery, and processing of voter registration records accepted by agencies designated by the governor to provide voter registration services;
     (19) Procedures to receive and distribute voter registration applications by mail;
     (20) Procedures for a voter to change his or her voter registration address within a county by telephone;
     (21) Procedures for a voter to change the name under which he or she is registered to vote;
     (22) Procedures for canceling dual voter registration records and for maintaining records of persons whose voter registrations have been canceled;
     (23) Procedures for the electronic transfer of voter registration records between county auditors and the office of the secretary of state;
     (24) Procedures and forms for declarations of candidacy;
     (25) Procedures and requirements for the acceptance and filing of declarations of candidacy by electronic means;
     (26) Procedures for the circumstance in which two or more candidates have a name similar in sound or spelling so as to cause confusion for the voter;
     (27) Filing for office;
     (28) The order of positions and offices on a ballot;
     (29) Sample ballots;
     (30) Independent evaluations of voting systems;
     (31) The testing, approval, and certification of voting systems;
     (32) The testing of vote tallying software programming;
     (33) Standards and procedures to prevent fraud and to facilitate the accurate processing and canvassing of absentee ballots and mail ballots;
     (34) Standards and procedures to guarantee the secrecy of absentee ballots and mail ballots;
     (35) Uniformity among the counties of the state in the conduct of absentee voting and mail ballot elections;
     (36) Standards and procedures to accommodate out-of-state voters, overseas voters, and service voters;
     (37) The tabulation of paper ballots before the close of the polls;
     (38) The accessibility of polling places and registration facilities that are accessible to elderly and disabled persons;
     (39) The aggregation of precinct results if reporting the results of a single precinct could jeopardize the secrecy of a person's ballot;
     (40) Procedures for conducting a statutory recount;
     (41) Procedures for filling vacancies in congressional offices if the general statutory time requirements for availability of absentee ballots, certification, canvassing, and related procedures cannot be met;
     (42) Procedures for the statistical sampling of signatures for purposes of verifying and canvassing signatures on initiative, referendum, and recall election petitions;
     (43) Standards and deadlines for submitting material to the office of the secretary of state for the voters' pamphlet;
     (44) Deadlines for the filing of ballot titles for referendum bills and constitutional amendments if none have been provided by the legislature;
     (45) Procedures for the publication of a state voters' pamphlet;
     (46) Procedures for conducting special elections regarding nuclear waste sites if the general statutory time requirements for availability of absentee ballots, certification, canvassing, and related procedures cannot be met;
     (47) Procedures for conducting partisan primary elections;
     (48) Standards and procedures for the proper conduct of voting during the early voting period to provide accessability for the blind or visually impaired;
     (49) Standards for voting technology and systems used by the state or any political subdivision to be accessible for individuals with disabilities, including nonvisual accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation, including privacy and independence, as other voters;
     (50) All data formats for transferring voter registration data on electronic or machine-readable media for the purpose of administering the statewide voter registration list required by the Help America Vote Act (P.L. 107-252);
     (51) Defining the interaction of electronic voter registration election management systems employed by each county auditor to maintain a local copy of each county's portion of the official state list of registered voters;
     (52) Provisions and procedures to implement the state-based administrative complaint procedure as required by the Help America Vote Act (P.L. 107-252); ((and))
     (53) Facilitating the payment of local government grants to local government election officers or vendors; and
     (54) Standards for the verification of signatures on absentee, mail, and provisional ballot envelopes.

Sec. 3   RCW 29A.24.091 and 2005 c 221 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     A filing fee of one dollar shall accompany each declaration of candidacy for precinct committee officer; a filing fee of ten dollars shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for any office with a fixed annual salary of one thousand dollars or less; a filing fee equal to one percent of the annual salary of the office at the time of filing shall accompany the declaration of candidacy for any office with a fixed annual salary of more than one thousand dollars per annum. No filing fee need accompany a declaration of candidacy for any office for which compensation is on a per diem or per meeting attended basis.
     A candidate who lacks sufficient assets or income at the time of filing to pay the filing fee required by this section shall submit with his or her declaration of candidacy a ((nominating)) filing fee petition. The petition shall contain not less than a number of signatures of registered voters equal to the number of dollars of the filing fee. The signatures shall be of voters registered to vote within the jurisdiction of the office for which the candidate is filing.
     When the candidacy is for:
     (1) A legislative or judicial office that includes territory from more than one county, the fee shall be paid to the secretary of state for equal division between the treasuries of the counties comprising the district.
     (2) A legislative or judicial office that includes territory from only one county:
     (a) The fee shall be paid to the county auditor if the candidate filed his or her declaration of candidacy with the county auditor;
     (b) The fee shall be paid to the secretary of state if the candidate filed his or her declaration of candidacy with the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall then promptly transmit the fee to the county auditor of the county in which the legislative or judicial office is located.
     (3) A city or town office, the fee shall be paid to the county auditor who shall transmit it to the city or town clerk for deposit in the city or town treasury.

Sec. 4   RCW 29A.24.101 and 2004 c 271 s 114 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The ((nominating)) filing fee petition authorized by RCW 29A.24.091 must be printed on sheets of uniform color and size, must include a place for each individual to sign and print his or her name and the address, city, and county at which he or she is registered to vote, and must contain no more than twenty numbered lines.
     (2) For candidates for nonpartisan office and candidates of a major political party for partisan office, the ((nominating)) filing fee petition must be in substantially the following form:

     The warning prescribed by RCW 29A.72.140; followed by:

     We, the undersigned registered voters of (the state of Washington or the political subdivision for which the nomination is made) , hereby petition that the name of (candidate's name) be printed on the official primary ballot for the office of (insert name of office) .

     (3) For independent candidates and candidates of a minor political party for partisan office, the ((nominating)) filing fee petition must be in substantially the following form:

     The warning prescribed by RCW 29A.72.140; followed by:

     We, the undersigned registered voters of (the state of Washington or the political subdivision for which the nomination is made) , hereby petition that the name of (candidate's name) be printed on the official general election ballot for the office of (insert name of office) .

Sec. 5   RCW 29A.24.111 and 2004 c 271 s 161 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((Nominating)) Filing fee petitions may be rejected for the following reasons:
     (1) The petition is not in the proper form;
     (2) The petition clearly bears insufficient signatures;
     (3) The petition is not accompanied by a declaration of candidacy;
     (4) The time within which the petition and the declaration of candidacy could have been filed has expired.
     If the petition is accepted, the officer with whom it is filed shall canvass the signatures contained on it and shall reject the signatures of those persons who are not registered voters and the signatures of those persons who are not registered to vote within the jurisdiction of the office for which the ((nominating)) filing fee petition is filed. He or she shall additionally reject any signature that appears on the ((nominating)) filing fee petitions of two or more candidates for the same office and shall also reject, each time it appears, the name of any person who signs the same petition more than once.
     If the officer with whom the petition is filed refuses to accept the petition or refuses to certify the petition as bearing sufficient valid signatures, the person filing the petition may appeal that action to the superior court. The application for judicial review shall take precedence over other cases and matters and shall be speedily heard and determined.

Sec. 6   RCW 29A.40.110 and 2005 c 243 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The opening and subsequent processing of return envelopes for any primary or election may begin upon receipt. The tabulation of absentee ballots must not commence until after 8:00 p.m. on the day of the primary or election.
     (2) All received absentee return envelopes must be placed in secure locations from the time of delivery to the county auditor until their subsequent opening. After opening the return envelopes, the county canvassing board shall place all of the ballots in secure storage until after 8:00 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.
     (3) Before opening a returned absentee ballot, the canvassing board, or its designated representatives, shall examine the postmark, statement, and signature on the return envelope that contains the security envelope and absentee ballot. ((They)) All personnel assigned to verify signatures must receive training on statewide standards for signature verification. Personnel shall verify that the voter's signature on the return envelope is the same as the signature of that voter in the registration files of the county. For any absentee ballot, a variation between the signature of the voter on the return envelope and the signature of that voter 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.
     (4) For registered voters casting absentee ballots, the date on the return envelope to which the voter has attested determines the validity, as to the time of voting for that absentee ballot if the postmark is missing or is illegible. For out-of-state voters, overseas voters, and service voters stationed in the United States, the date on the return envelope to which the voter has attested determines the validity as to the time of voting for that absentee ballot. ((For any absentee ballot, a variation between the signature of the voter on the return envelope and the signature of that voter 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.))

Sec. 7   RCW 29A.40.150 and 2005 c 245 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The secretary of state shall produce and furnish envelopes and instructions for ((out-of-state voters,)) overseas voters((,)) and service voters ((to the county auditors)). The information on the envelopes or instructions must explain that:
     (1) Return postage is free if the ballot is mailed through the United States postal service, United States armed forces postal service, or the postal service of a United States foreign embassy;
     (2) The date of the signature is considered the date of mailing;
     (3) The envelope must be signed by election day;
     (4) The signed declaration on the envelope is the equivalent of voter registration;
     (5) A voter may fax a voted ballot and the accompanying envelope if the voter agrees to waive secrecy. The ballot will be counted if the original documents are received before certification of the election; and
     (6) A voter may obtain a ballot via electronic mail, which the voter may print out, vote, and return by mail. In order to facilitate the electronic acquisition of ballots by ((out-of-state,)) overseas((,)) and service voters, the ballot instructions shall include the web site of the office of the secretary of state.

Sec. 8   RCW 29A.48.050 and 2003 c 111 s 1205 are each amended to read as follows:
     The voter shall return the ballot to the county auditor in the return identification envelope. If mailed, a ballot must be postmarked not later than the date of the primary or election. Otherwise, the ballot must be deposited at the office of the county auditor or the designated place of deposit not later than 8:00 p.m. on the date of the primary or election. All personnel assigned to verify signatures on the return envelope must receive training on statewide standards for signature verification.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:
     (1) RCW 29A.04.157 (September primary) and 2003 c 111 s 128;
     (2) RCW 29A.04.610 (Rules by secretary of state) and 2004 c 267 s 702, 2003 c 111 s 161, 1971 ex.s. c 202 s 2, & 1965 c 9 s 29.04.080;
     (3) RCW 29A.20.110 (Definitions -- "Convention" and "election jurisdiction") and 2003 c 111 s 505, 1977 ex.s. c 329 s 1, & 1965 c 9 s 29.24.010;
     (4) RCW 29A.20.130 (Convention -- Notice) and 2003 c 111 s 507;
     (5) RCW 29A.20.200 (Declarations of candidacy required, exceptions -- Payment of fees) and 2003 c 111 s 514, 1990 c 59 s 103, 1989 c 215 s 8, 1977 ex.s. c 329 s 7, & 1965 c 9 s 29.24.070;
     (6) RCW 29A.24.200 (Lapse of election when no filing for single positions -- Effect) and 2003 c 111 s 620;
     (7) RCW 29A.28.010 (Major party ticket) and 2003 c 111 s 701, 1990 c 59 s 102, 1977 ex.s. c 329 s 12, & 1965 c 9 s 29.18.150;
     (8) RCW 29A.28.020 (Death or disqualification--Correcting ballots--Counting votes already cast) and 2003 c 111 s 702, 2001 c 46 s 4, & 1977 ex.s. c 329 s 13;
     (9) RCW 29A.36.190 (Partisan candidates qualified for general election) and 2003 c 111 s 919;
     (10) RCW 29A.44.220 (Casting vote) and 2004 c 267 s 319, 2003 c 111 s 1121, 1990 c 59 s 43, 1988 c 181 s 4, 1965 ex.s. c 101 s 15, & 1965 c 9 s 29.51.100;
     (11) RCW 29A.46.140 (Interference, assistance) and 2004 c 267 s 307;
     (12) RCW 29A.46.150 (Prohibitions -- Penalty) and 2004 c 267 s 308;
     (13) RCW 29A.46.210 (Procedures for voting) and 2004 c 267 s 310;
     (14) RCW 29A.46.220 (Opening and closing locations) and 2004 c 267 s 311;
     (15) RCW 29A.46.230 (Voters in location at closing time) and 2004 c 267 s 312;
     (16) RCW 29A.46.240 (Procedures after closing) and 2004 c 267 s 313;
     (17) RCW 29A.46.250 (Handling of ballots after closing) and 2004 c 267 s 314; and
     (18) RCW 29A.72.220 (Petitions -- Signature checking -- Registration information file) and 2003 c 111 s 1801.