BILL REQ. #:  S-0159.1 

Read first time 01/20/09.   Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.

     AN ACT Relating to identifying marks on ballots; and amending RCW 29A.36.111 and 29A.60.040.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 29A.36.111 and 2004 c 271 s 128 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Every ballot for a single combination of issues, offices, and candidates shall be uniform within a precinct and shall identify the type of primary or election, the county, and the date of the primary or election, and the ballot or voting device shall contain instructions on the proper method of recording a vote, including write-in votes. Each position, together with the names of the candidates for that office, shall be clearly separated from other offices or positions in the same jurisdiction. The offices in each jurisdiction shall be clearly separated from each other. ((No paper ballot or ballot card may be marked in any way that would permit the identification of the person who voted that ballot.))
     (2) An election official may not issue any ballot with a unique identifying mark, except as specifically authorized by this subsection. A ballot may be issued with a nonsequential, anonymously assigned unique identifying mark solely for auditing and vote reconciliation purposes, or to determine if a particular ballot has been previously counted, as long as it is not associated with an individual voter, a voter's address, or a voter's registration number.
     (3) An elections official may not use any unique identifying mark to associate a specific ballot with a voter or determine or seek to determine whether any specific voter's ballot has been counted, or whether the ballots of a group of voters have been counted. The determination by an elections official using a unique identifying mark that the ballots of any specific voter or group of voters have been counted constitutes a separate violation of RCW 29A.84.720 for each such voter and each individual in the group of voters. This subsection shall not apply to a ballot returned by or on behalf of a voter containing a unique identifying mark that was not placed on the ballot by or at the direction of an elections official.

Sec. 2   RCW 29A.60.040 and 2003 c 111 s 1504 are each amended to read as follows:
     A ballot is invalid and no votes on that ballot may be counted if it is found folded together with another ballot ((or it is marked so as to identify the voter)).
     Those parts of a ballot are invalid and no votes may be counted for those issues or offices where more votes are cast for the office or issue than are permitted by law; write-in votes do not contain all of the information required under RCW ((29A.60.020)) 29A.60.021; or that issue or office is not marked with sufficient definiteness to determine the voter's choice or intention. No write-in vote may be rejected due to a variation in the form of the name if the election board or the canvassing board can determine the issue for or against which or the person and the office for which the voter intended to vote.