BILL REQ. #:  H-3604.1 

Read first time 01/10/2006.   Referred to Committee on State Government Operations & Accountability.

     AN ACT Relating to voter challenges; and amending RCW 29A.08.830.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 29A.08.830 and 2003 c 111 s 255 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any registered voter may request that the registration of another voter be canceled if he or she believes that the voter does not meet the requirements of Article VI, section 1 of the state Constitution ((or)), that voter no longer maintains a legal voting residence at the address shown on his or her registration record, or the voter has duplicate registrations. The challenger shall file with the county auditor a signed affidavit subject to the penalties of perjury, to the effect that to his or her personal knowledge and belief another registered voter does not actually reside at the address as given on his or her registration record or is otherwise not a qualified voter and that the voter in question is not protected by the provisions of Article VI, section 4, of the Constitution of the state of Washington. The person filing the challenge must furnish the address at which the challenged voter actually resides, except when the address does not exist, the address is not a residential address, or the voter has moved without a forwarding address.
     (2) Any such challenge of a voter's registration and right to vote made less than thirty days before a primary or election, special or general, shall be administered under RCW 29A.08.820. The county auditor shall notify the challenged voter and the precinct election officers in the voter's precinct that a challenge has been filed, provide the name of the challenger, and instruct both the precinct election officers and the voter that, in the event the challenged voter desires to vote at the ensuing primary or election, a challenged ballot will be provided. The voter shall also be informed that the status of his or her registration and the disposition of any challenged ballot will be determined by the county canvassing board in the manner provided by RCW 29A.08.820. The county auditor must inform the challenged voter on the final disposition of his or her ballot. If the challenged voter does not vote at the ensuing primary or election, the challenge shall be processed in the same manner as challenges made more than thirty days prior to the primary or election under RCW 29A.08.840.