BILL REQ. #:  S-4503.1 

Read first time 01/23/2006.   Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.

     AN ACT Relating to voter registration; and amending RCW 29A.08.140 and 29A.08.145.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 29A.08.140 and 2004 c 267 s 112 are each amended to read as follows:
     The registration files of all precincts shall be closed against ((original registration or)) transfers for thirty days immediately preceding every primary, special election, and general election to be held in such precincts.
     The county auditor shall give notice of the closing of the precinct files for ((original registration and)) transfer and notice of the special registration and voting procedure provided by RCW 29A.08.145 by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least five days before the closing of the precinct files.
     No person may vote at any primary, special election, or general election in a precinct polling place unless he or she has registered to vote at least thirty days before that primary or election and appears on the official statewide voter registration list. If a person, otherwise qualified to vote in the state, county, and precinct in which he or she applies for registration, does not register at least thirty days before any primary, special election, or general election, he or she may register and vote by absentee ballot for that primary or election under RCW 29A.08.145.

Sec. 2   RCW 29A.08.145 and 2005 c 246 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
     This section establishes a special procedure which an elector not registered in the state may use to register to vote ((or transfer a voter registration by changing his or her address)) during the period beginning after the closing of registration for voting at the polls under RCW 29A.08.140 and ending on the fifteenth day before a primary, special election, or general election. A qualified elector in the state may register to vote ((or change his or her registration address)) in person in the office of the county auditor of the county in which the applicant resides, or at a voter registration location specifically designated for this purpose by the county auditor or secretary of state, and apply for an absentee ballot for that primary or election. The auditor or registration assistant shall register that individual in the manner provided in this chapter. The application for an absentee ballot executed by the newly registered ((or transferred)) voter for the primary or election that follows the execution of the registration shall be promptly transmitted to the auditor with the completed voter registration form.