S-3264               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 4443

                        _______________________________________________

                                                                            C 022 L 86

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Senators Rinehart, Pullen, Garrett, Rasmussen and Lee

Prefiled with Secretary of the Senate 12/18/85.  Read first time 1/13/86 and referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.

AN ACT Relating to absentee voters; and amending RCW 29.36.013.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 273, Laws of 1985 and RCW 29.36.013 are each amended to read as follows:

          Any disabled voter or any voter over the age of sixty-five may apply, in writing, for status as an ongoing absentee voter.  Each such voter shall be granted that status by his or her county auditor and shall automatically receive an absentee ballot for each ensuing election for which he or she is entitled to vote and need not submit a separate application for each election.  Ballots received from ongoing absentee voters shall be validated, processed, and tabulated in the same manner as other absentee ballots.

          Status as an ongoing absentee voter shall be terminated upon any of the following events:

          (1) The written request of the voter;

          (2) The death or disqualification of the voter;

          (3) The cancellation of the voter's registration record;

          (4) The return of an ongoing absentee ballot as undeliverable; or

          (5) January 1st of each odd-numbered year.

          A disabled voter is defined as a voter qualifying for special parking privileges under RCW 46.16.381(((1))) or a blind person as defined in RCW 74.18.020.