BILL REQ. #: S-1100.1
| State of Washington | 59th Legislature | 2005 Regular Session |
Read first time 02/02/2005. Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.
AN ACT Relating to ballot enhancement and duplication; adding new sections to chapter 29A.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 29A.60 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds that a person's right
to privacy with respect to his or her vote for an elective office is of
the highest importance, and it is the duty of the legislature to do
everything within the constitutional limitations of its power to
protect that privacy. It is the intent of the legislature to protect
each person's vote by disallowing the practice of altering, defacing,
removing, covering, or destroying by any means a vote of a citizen.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 29A.04 RCW
to read as follows:
"Mark of identification" means any mark, symbol, sign, spot, dot,
or speck placed on a ballot that either does not follow the rules of
the voting procedure provided for in the voting directions or has the
potential to link a ballot to a particular voter. A vote for a
candidate on a ballot that fully adheres to the rules of the voting
procedure provided for in the voting directions is not a mark of
identification.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 29A.04 RCW
to read as follows:
"Ballot enhancement" is the process of adding, modifying, or
covering marks of identification on a ballot to ensure that the
electronic voting equipment will tally the votes on the ballot in the
manner intended by the voter, or as directed by the canvassing board.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 A new section is added to chapter 29A.60 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Ballots may not be enhanced, as that term is defined in section
3 of this act. If a ballot is rejected by a tabulating machine during
the tallying or machine recount process, the ballot must be separated
from all other validly tabulated ballots and later considered by the
canvassing board. If the voter did not follow the rules of the voting
procedure provided for in the voting directions, the canvassing board
is prohibited from inferring intent or enhancing or duplicating a
ballot and must reject the ballot as invalid. Any marks of
identification, as that term is defined in section 2 of this act, on a
ballot, invalidate the ballot.
(2) A ballot may not be enhanced or duplicated for any reason.