"NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that fax, e-mail, and internet voting remain fundamentally less secret than mail voting or poll voting and less secure against technical failure, fraud, and rigging. The legislature further finds that until the demonstrated flaws with these methods of voting are resolved, e-mail, fax, and internet voting must be deemed inferior to mail voting or poll voting regardless of any relative convenience or potential cost savings. It is the intent of the legislature that fax, e-mail, and internet voting must be utilized, if deployed at all, as an alternative method available only to voters that demonstrate or affirm that all best efforts to facilitate paper ballot mail voting will fail to enfranchise the voter.

Sec. 2   RCW 29A.40.150 and 2009 c 415 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) An overseas or service voter may receive a ballot by fax, e-mail, or other electronic means. An overseas or service voter may return a voted ballot by fax, e-mail, or other electronic means if the voter meets the conditions indicated in the waiver and affirmation of residence in section 4 of this act and if the voter's signature on both the declaration and the waiver and affirmation of residence accompanies the ballot. All other overseas and service voters must return voted ballots by postal service or private courier service. The county auditor must establish procedures to best protect the secrecy of voted ballots.
     (2) An overseas or service voter may request to receive all future ballots by fax, e-mail, or other available electronic means. An overseas or service voter may also request to terminate receiving ballots by postal mail.
     (3) The ((information on the envelopes or)) instructions for overseas voters and service voters must include the contact information for the county auditor's office, the waiver and affirmation of residence, and must explain that:
     (((1))) (a) 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))) (b) The date of the declaration signature is considered the date of mailing;
     (((3))) (c) The ((envelope)) waiver and affirmation of residence, if required, and the declaration must be signed ((by)) no later than election day;
     (((4))) (d) If the voter is not already registered to vote, the signed declaration ((on the envelope)) is the equivalent of voter registration;
     (((5))) (e) 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)) request to receive all future ballots by fax, e-mail, or other available electronic means; 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 overseas and service voters, the ballot instructions shall include the web site of the office of the secretary of state)) (f) A voter may contact the county auditor's office to confirm that the ballot was received.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 29A.40 RCW to read as follows:
     An overseas or service voter may register to vote, request a ballot, or transmit a ballot using forms or methods provided by the United States department of defense or the United States election assistance commission so long as that form or method does not conflict with the provisions of RCW 29A.40.150.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 29A.40 RCW to read as follows:
     The waiver and affirmation of residence shall contain in substance the following: