HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1666

BYRepresentatives Anderson, Hankins, R. Fisher, Jacobsen, R. King, Bristow, Silver, Rector, McLean, O'Brien, Prentice, Wineberry, Todd, Morris, Sayan, Beck, Wang, Ferguson, Van Luven, P. King, Nutley, Pruitt, Winsley, Youngsman and Nelson; by request of Secretary of State

Establishing voter registration along with driver licensing.

House Committe on State Government

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (8)

      Signed by Representatives R. Fisher, Chair; Anderson, Vice Chair; Hankins, R. King, Morris, O'Brien, Rector and Sayan.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (2)

      Signed by Representatives McLean, Ranking Republican Member and Silver.

House Staff:Kenneth Hirst (786-7105)

Rereferred House Committee on Appropriations

Majority Report:  The substitute bill by Committee on State Government as amended by Committee on Appropriations be substituted therefor and the substitute bill as amended do pass.  (18)

      Signed by Representatives Locke, Chair;H. Sommers, Vice Chair; Appelwick, Belcher, Bowman, Braddock, Brekke, Dorn, Ebersole, Hine, Peery, Rust, Sayan, Spanel, Sprenkle, Valle, Wang and Wineberry.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (7)

      Signed by Representatives Silver, Ranking Republican Member; Brough, Doty, Holland, May, McLean and Nealey.

House Staff:      Randy Acker (786-7136)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS MARCH 4, 1989

BACKGROUND:

A person desiring to register to vote must apply to a registrar, the registrar must interrogate the applicant regarding the applicant's qualifications as an elector, the registrar must record the registration information, and the applicant must sign an oath of registration.  A person who knowingly gives false information for the application or who knowingly makes false declarations regarding his or her qualifications in the oath is guilty of a class C felony.

The Election Code requires the Secretary of State to design a uniform registration form and to furnish the forms to the county auditors without cost.

SUMMARY:

SUBSTITUTE BILL:  Registration with Licensing.  Before issuing a driver's license or identicard, a licensing agent of the Department of Licensing must determine whether the applicant for the license or card wants to register to vote or to transfer his or her voter registration.  If the applicant so chooses, the applicant may register or transfer a registration and the agent must provide the applicant with a registration form and instructions and record the request. The application form must contain certain specified information and any other information the Secretary of State determines is necessary to prevent duplicate registrations.  The form must also contain a warning identifying the penalty, prescribed by current law, for providing false information or making a false declaration regarding that information.  The applicant must sign the registration oath and sign a portion of the form that can be used as an initiative signature card for verifying petition signatures.

Processing.  Completed forms are to be forwarded from each licensing facility at least once each week.  They must be forwarded to the appropriate county auditors not later than 10 days after being collected.  The Department of Licensing must produce and transmit to the Secretary of State certain registration information in a machine- readable form.  The Secretary must sort the information by county and must deliver it, along with a "control listing" of registration transactions, to the appropriate county auditors.

Registration in General.  The information which must by statute appear on all other voter registration forms is altered and the Secretary is authorized to require any other information the Secretary determines to be necessary to prevent duplicate registrations.  These other forms must also contain a warning regarding the penalty for providing false information or falsely declaring qualifications as a voter.  A provision of law is repealed which requires the information on a registration form to be filled in by a registrar.  Also repealed is a provision which requires the county auditor to record certain identifying code numbers and precinct information on the registration record.  The form and format of the various registration and machine-readable records must be specified by the Secretary by rule.

Supplies and Agreements; Costs.  The Secretary of State must produce and distribute the instructional material and other supplies needed to implement the program for combining applications for drivers' licenses and voter registration.  The Secretary must also adopt rules to insure the integrity of the voter registration process and enter into agreements governing the services provided by the county auditors and the Department of Licensing in carrying out this form of voter registration.  The agreement must provide for the reimbursement of all costs incurred by the auditors and the Department for their related data processing services.  The Secretary must include in the Secretary's biennial budget request sufficient funds to carry out these voter registration provisions.

SUBSTITUTE BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  The substitute bill:  alters provisions in the original bill regarding the deadlines for collecting and distributing registration information from licensing agents; reduces the scope of the registration services for which the Department and the county auditors are to be reimbursed; reduces the appropriation to $165,000 (from $220,000); requires information regarding citizenship to be included in the voter registration portion of the licensing form; and postpones implementation of these registration procedures until January 1, 1991 (rather than January 1, 1990).

CHANGES PROPOSED BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS:  The appropriation is reduced from $165,000 to $123,000.

Appropriation:    (State Government)  $165,000 is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of the Secretary of State for the biennium ending June 30, 1991.

(Appropriations)  $123,000 is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of the Secretary of State for the biennium ending June 30, 1991.

Fiscal Note:      Requested February 15, 1989.

Effective Date:The provisions of the bill take effect on January 1, 1991, except those requiring the Secretary of State to adopt certain rules, establish agreements, and provide certain services.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    (State Government)  Ralph Munro, Secretary of State; Chuck Sauvage, Common Cause; Cindy Zehnder, Joint Council of Teamsters; Margot Buetler, Human SERVE Campaign; Larry Eason, Washington Public Interest Research Group; and John Burbank, Washington State Labor Council.

(Appropriations)  Representative Jesse Wineberry; Don Whiting and Gary McIntosh, Office of the Secretary of State; Lael Braymer, League of Women Voters; Fred Saeger, Washington Association of County Officials; Ralph Osborne, Department of Licensing.

House Committee - Testified Against:      (State Government)  Bill Provost, Stevens County Auditor.

(Appropriations)  None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    (State Government)  (1) Since 1952, there has been a continual decline in the percent of eligible Washington citizens who are registered to vote.  For the first time, the actual number of persons registered to vote in the state also declined in 1988 despite an increase in population.  This "Motor Voter" bill could increase registrations by 400,000 in four years.  (2) Nearly all of the information needed for voter registration is already used in licensing drivers.  Linking the two systems will provide a continual update of registration lists and reduce the need for the registration rush just before an election.  (3) The greater the percent of residents who participate in elections, the less elections will be influenced by small minority interests.  (4) The "Motor Voter" concept removes the registration burden from the people and places it back on government where it belongs.

(Appropriations)  The level of registration and voting in recent elections shows that the current approach to voter registration is inadequate.  This measure will make it possible for greater numbers of people to get out to vote and could help reverse the trend of declining voter registration.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      (State Government)  More time is needed than provided by the bill for auditors to place applicants in their proper precincts.  This is particularly true in very rural areas where direct contact with an applicant may be necessary to identify the range and section of the applicant's residence.

(Appropriations)  None Presented.