AN ACT Relating to voter registration; amending RCW 29.07.065, 29.07.080, and 29.07.160; and adding new sections to chapter 29.07 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 29.07 RCW to read as follows:

(1) A qualified but unregistered elector may register to vote in a primary, special election, or general election at the elector's precinct polling place during the polling hours on the day of the primary or election. The registration of a person who registers to vote under the provisions of this section shall be added to the precinct files and the person may vote at that primary or election in the same manner as any other registered voter who votes at the polling place.

(2) To permit the registration of voters under this section, each county auditor shall ensure that at least one deputy registrar is present at each polling place in the county during the polling hours of a primary or election.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 29.07 RCW to read as follows:

Following each primary or election, the county auditor shall implement a program to check the residence address of persons in the county who registered to vote at the primary or election under section 1 of this act. Under the program, the auditor shall mail letters or postcards, that may not be forwarded, to a random sampling of such persons who voted during the primary or election. The auditor shall submit the name of any person who was sent a postcard or letter, that was returned as undeliverable, to the county prosecutor for an investigation of a possible violation of state election laws.

The secretary of state shall adopt by rule in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW standards for such programs.

Sec. 3. Section 2, chapter 21, Laws of 1973 1st ex. sess. as amended by section 4, chapter 167, Laws of 1986 and RCW 29.07.065 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) In addition to other information required by this chapter, each applicant for registration shall establish his identity, unless personally known by the registration officer, by producing at least one of the following items:

((~~(1)~~)) (a) A social security card containing the applicant's signature. Whenever the social security record is so used, the registration officer shall enter the applicant's social security number upon the appropriate registration forms;

((~~(2)~~)) (b) A driver's license which contains the signature and/or a photograph of the applicant;

((~~(3)~~)) (c) A valid Washington state identicard;

((~~(4)~~)) (d) A nationally or regionally known credit card containing the signature and/or photograph of the applicant;

((~~(5)~~)) (e) An identification card issued by the United States, any state or any agency of either, of a kind commonly used to identify the members or employees of such government agencies (including military I.D. cards), and which contain the signature and/or the photograph of the applicant.

In addition, whenever the registration officer has a doubt as to whether the applicant is of legal voting age, such officer shall require the applicant to produce a record that establishes the applicant's date of birth.

Failure to produce such identification, except when necessary to establish the applicant's date of birth or to satisfy the requirements of subsection (2) of this section, at the time of registration ((~~as set forth in this section~~)) shall not deter the act of registration: PROVIDED, That registration officials shall indicate on the registration form by checking either "identification produced" or "identification not produced".

(2) Each applicant for voter registration who applies to register at a polling place under the provisions of section 1 of this 1989 act shall produce for the registration officer a valid Washington state driver's license, a valid Washington state identicard, or other identification authorized by rule under subsection (3) of this section. Such a license, identicard, or other identification shall list, as the person's address, a location that is within the precinct in which the person is applying to register. No person may register to vote under the provisions of section 1 of this 1989 act without providing such identification.

(3) By rule, the secretary of state may specify identification that may be used to satisfy the requirements of subsection (2) of this section. To specify such identification, the secretary must determine that the information provided by the identification: Is similar to that provided by a state driver's license or identicard; and is, in general, as reliable as the information provided by a state driver's license or identicard.

Sec. 4. Section 29.07.080, chapter 9, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 4, chapter 21, Laws of 1973 1st ex. sess. and RCW 29.07.080 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The registrar shall note the sex of the applicant on the registration form. ((He)) The registrar shall then require the applicant to sign an oath in the following form: "I, the undersigned, on oath or affirmation, do hereby declare that the facts set forth herein relating to my qualifications as a voter, recorded by the registration officer in my presence, are true. I further certify that I am not presently denied my civil rights as a result of being convicted of an infamous crime and that I will be at least eighteen years of age at the time of voting"; and the registration officer shall sign and date such oath in verification of the fact that the same was signed and sworn to before him in the following form: "Subscribed and sworn to before me this ..... day of .......... , 19.. , .......... Registration Officer".

Otherwise the registration officer shall refuse to register the applicant. Upon receipt of the registration record, the county auditor shall note on the record all of the identifying code numbers and precinct in which the applicant resides.

(2) The form containing the oath required by subsection (1) of this section shall clearly display the provisions of RCW 29.85.240 and shall identify the maximum penalty permitted by law for violating those provisions.

Sec. 5. Section 29.07.160, chapter 9, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 4, chapter 3, Laws of 1980 and RCW 29.07.160 are each amended to read as follows:

Except as provided in section 1 of this 1989 act, the registration files of all precincts shall be closed against original registration or transfers for ((~~thirty~~)) fifteen days immediately preceding every election and primary to be held in such precincts, respectively.

The county auditor shall give notice of the closing of said files for original registration and transfer by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least five days before such closing((~~, except as provided for special elections in accordance with section 3 of this 1980 act~~)).