HOUSE BILL REPORT
SB 6324
As Reported by House Committee On:
State Government
Title: An act relating to a statewide voter registration data base.
Brief Description: Directing a statewide voter registration data base.
Sponsors: Senators Gardner, Horn, T. Sheldon, Roach, McCaslin, Winsley and Hale; by request of Secretary of State.
Brief History:
Committee Activity:
State Government: 2/25/02, 2/28/02 [DP].
|
Brief Summary of Bill |
|
$Initiates the creation of a statewide voter registration data base.
|
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT
Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 6 members: Representatives Romero, Chair; Miloscia, Vice Chair; McMorris, Ranking Minority Member; McDermott, Schindler and Schmidt.
Staff: Marsha Reilly (786‑7135).
Background:
County auditors are responsible for maintaining voter registration information in a computer file on magnetic tape or disk, punched cards, or some other form of data storage containing the records of all registered voters within their jurisdiction. The computer file contains each voter's name, date of birth, residence address, sex, date of registration, applicable taxing district and precinct codes and the last five dates on which the individual voted. County auditors are to provide parts of this information to any person, upon written request, at cost.
County auditors are required to provide a computer tape or data file of the records of the registered voters in their counties to the Office of the Secretary of State. The Office of the Secretary of State provides a duplicate copy of this data to: 1) any political party, organization or other individual making such request, at cost; 2) the statute law committee, at no cost; and 3) the Department of Information Services for the purpose of creating the jury source list, at no cost.
While county auditors and the Office of the Secretary of State are required to furnish the voter registration information to any person or political party making a request, the use of this information is restricted. It may not be used for the purpose of mailing or delivering any advertisement or offer for any property, establishment, organization, product or service, or for the purpose of mailing or delivering any solicitation for money, services, or anything of value. To do so is considered a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine of not more than $10,000. Civil penalties apply as well. However, any person who mails or delivers any advertisement, offer or solicitation for a political purpose is not liable provided they take reasonable precautions to assure that the data is not used for anything other than political purposes.
Summary of Bill:
The Office of the Secretary of State, in conjunction with county auditors and voter registration experts, will design and begin creating a statewide voter registration data base. The data base will be designed to accomplish the following:
$Identify duplicate voter registrations;
$Identify suspected duplicate voters;
$Screen against the Department of Corrections data base in order to cancel voter registrations of felons;
$Provide current signatures of voters as a check for initiative signatures;
$Provide a comparison between the voter registration data base and the Department of Licensing change of address data base;
$Provide online access for county auditors for real time duplicate checking and update capabilities, provided sufficient funding is available;
$Cancel voter registration for persons who have moved to other states and surrendered their Washington drivers' licenses; and
$Ensure that counties maintain legal control of the registration records for that county.
The Office of the Secretary of State will report the findings of this group to the Legislature by February 1, 2003.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: This is the companion bill to HB 2332. The purpose of this bill is to demonstrate to the federal government that we are taking steps to meet the requirements of their voter registration database legislation.
Testimony Against: None.
Testified: Dean Logan, Office of the Secretary of State.