| Passed by the Senate April 18, 2005 YEAS 39 ________________________________________ President of the Senate Passed by the House April 13, 2005 YEAS 95 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives | I, Thomas Hoemann, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5395 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Secretary | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 59th Legislature | 2005 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/21/05.
AN ACT Relating to requiring electronic voting devices to produce paper records; adding a new section to chapter 29A.12 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 29A.44 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 29A.60 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 29A.84 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 29A.12 RCW
to read as follows:
Beginning on January 1, 2006, all electronic voting devices must
produce a paper record of each vote that may be accepted or rejected by
the voter before finalizing his or her vote. This record may not be
removed from the polling place, and must be human readable without an
interface and machine readable for counting purposes. If the device is
programmed to display the ballot in multiple languages, the paper
record produced must be printed in the language used by the voter.
Rejected records must either be destroyed or marked in order to clearly
identify the record as rejected.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 29A.44 RCW
to read as follows:
Paper records produced by electronic voting devices are subject to
all the requirements of this chapter and chapter 29A.60 RCW for ballot
handling, preservation, reconciliation, transit to the counting center,
and storage. The paper records must be preserved in the same manner
and for the same period of time as ballots.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 29A.60 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) The electronic record produced and counted by electronic voting
devices is the official record of each vote for election purposes. The
paper record produced under section 1 of this act must be stored and
maintained for use only in the following circumstances:
(a) In the event of a manual recount;
(b) By order of the county canvassing board;
(c) By order of a court of competent jurisdiction; or
(d) For use in the random audit of results described in section 5
of this act.
(2) When such paper record is used in any of the circumstances
listed in subsection (1) of this section, it shall be the official
record of the election.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 A new section is added to chapter 29A.44 RCW
to read as follows:
A voter voting on an electronic voting device may not leave the
device during the voting process, except to request assistance from the
precinct election officers, until the voting process is completed.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 A new section is added to chapter 29A.60 RCW
to read as follows:
Prior to certification of the election as required by RCW
29A.60.190, the county auditor shall conduct an audit of results of
votes cast on the direct recording electronic voting devices used in
the county. This audit must be conducted by randomly selecting by lot
up to four percent of the direct recording electronic voting devices or
one direct recording electronic voting device, whichever is greater,
and, for each device, comparing the results recorded electronically
with the results recorded on paper. For purposes of this audit, the
results recorded on paper must be tabulated as follows: On one-fourth
of the devices selected for audit, the paper records must be tabulated
manually; on the remaining devices, the paper records may be tabulated
by a mechanical device determined by the secretary of state to be
capable of accurately reading the votes cast and printed thereon and
qualified for use in the state under applicable state and federal laws.
Three races or issues, randomly selected by lot, must be audited on
each device. This audit procedure must be subject to observation by
political party representatives if representatives have been appointed
and are present at the time of the audit.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 A new section is added to chapter 29A.84 RCW
to read as follows:
Anyone who, without authorization, removes from a polling place a
paper record produced by an electronic voting device is guilty of a
class C felony punishable under RCW 9A.20.021.