HOUSE BILL REPORT

2SSB 6731

BYSenate Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators McCaslin and Sutherland)

Including absentee ballots in state-wide election abstracts.

House Committe on State Government

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (8)

      Signed by Representatives Todd, Chair; Anderson, Vice Chair; McLean, Ranking Republican Member; R. Fisher, Hankins, R. King, Morris and O'Brien.

House Staff:Kenneth Hirst (786-7105)

AS PASSED HOUSE MARCH 2, 1990

BACKGROUND:

State law requires absentee ballots to be grouped and counted by Congressional and legislative district without regard to precinct.  Immediately after the official results of a state primary or general election in a county are known, the county auditor must prepare an abstract of the number of registered voters in each precinct and the votes cast in the county for and against state measures and for each candidate for federal, state, and legislative office and any other office which the Secretary of State is required to canvass.

SUMMARY:

After a general election in an even-numbered year, the county auditor must provide the Secretary of State a report of the number of absentee ballots cast in each precinct for and against state measures and for each candidate for federal, state, and legislative office and any other office which the secretary must canvass.  The report must be provided not later than March 31 of the next year.  The absentee ballot count may be incorporated into the votes cast at the polls for each precinct or separately.  If the absentee count is reported separately, the auditor may aggregate the results from more than 1 precinct if the auditor finds, under rules adopted by the secretary, that reporting them by single precinct would jeopardize the secrecy of a person's ballot.  The precincts to be included in such an aggregate must, to the extent practicable, be contiguous.

Fiscal Note:      Requested February 22, 1990.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Sam Reed, County Auditors' Association.

House Committee - Testified Against:      No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The bill contains all of the elements of the compromise reached on this subject except the $300,000 appropriation.  The appropriation should be restored.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None.