Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

State Government, Elections & Information Technology Committee

HB 2297

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Changes the deadline for a person to submit a voter registration application online or by mail from 29 days before the election, to eight days before the election date.
Changes the deadline for in-person voter registration from eight days before the election date to 8:00 p.m. on the day of the election.
Changes the deadline to update existing voter registration information from 29 days before the election date to 8:00 p.m. on the day of the election.
Requires county auditors to accept in-person voter registration at certain locations within the county.

Background:

Voter Registration Deadlines.

To register to vote, a person must submit a registration electronically or by mail no later than 29 days before the election date, or in person at his or her county auditor's office no later than eight days before the election date.

A person who is already registered to vote may update his or her voter registration information no later than 29 days before the date of the election.

Voting Centers.

Each county auditor must open a voting center at least 18 days before each election. The voting center must provide certain voting materials and equipment, including voter registration materials, ballots, provisional ballots, disability access voting units, sample ballots, instructions on how to properly vote the ballot, a ballot drop box, and voters' pamphlets when applicable. The county auditor may provide election services at locations in addition to the voting center and has discretion to determine which services will be provided at the additional locations.

Summary of Bill:

Voter Registration Deadlines.

To register to vote electronically or by mail, a person must submit a registration application no later than eight days before the election date. A person may also register in person at the county auditor's office, a voting center, or other location designated by the county auditor up to 8:00 p.m. on the day of the election. A person who is already registered may update their voter registration up to 8:00 p.m. on the day of the election.

The Secretary of State must establish procedures to record the new or updated voter registrations on an expedited basis.

Voting Centers.

The county auditor must register voters in person at the county auditor's office and the division of elections if it is in a different city from the county auditor's office. For presidential general elections, the county auditor must open additional voting centers to accept in-person registration in each city with a population of 100,000 or more in the county, except for cities where the county auditor's office or division of elections is located and is accepting in-person registration. These additional voting centers are not required to be open on the Sunday before the presidential election.

At least one of the additional locations designated by the county auditor for accepting in-person voter registration must provide the same services as voting centers. Voting centers must be located in public buildings such as libraries.