HOUSE BILL REPORT
ESHB 2479
As Passed House:
February 14, 2006
Title: An act relating to voting equipment.
Brief Description: Modifying provisions on voting equipment.
Sponsors: By House Committee on State Government Operations & Accountability (originally sponsored by Representatives Haigh, Nixon, Green, Hunt, Haler, Morrell and Upthegrove; by request of Secretary of State).
Brief History:
State Government Operations & Accountability: 1/13/06, 1/27/06 [DPS].
Floor Activity:
Passed House: 2/14/06, 96-0.
Brief Summary of Engrossed Substitute Bill |
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ACCOUNTABILITY
Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 6 members: Representatives Haigh, Chair; Green, Vice Chair; Nixon, Ranking Minority Member; Hunt, McDermott and Miloscia.
Minority Report: Do not pass. Signed by 3 members: Representatives Clements, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Schindler and Sump.
Staff: Marsha Reilly (786-7135).
Background:
Washington Voting System Certification Requirements
The Secretary of State (Secretary) is responsible for the inspection, evaluation, and testing of
voting systems in the state. Voting systems, voting devices, and vote tallying systems must
be certified and approved by the Secretary before they can be used or sold in the state. To be
used in Washington, a voting device also must be tested, certified, and used in at least one
other state or election jurisdiction, and must meet the federal standards.
National Voting System Standards
The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) required the U.S. Election Assistance Commission
(EAC) to issue Voluntary Voting System Guidelines that would update and augment the 2002
Voting System Standards (Standards) to reflect advances in voting technology, to incorporate
requirements of the HAVA, and to address the proliferation of electronic voting systems.
The proposed guidelines were released for comment in June 2005, and the final guidelines
were adopted in December 2005. The HAVA also required the EAC to develop a national
program for accrediting voting system testing laboratories and to oversee the certification of
voting systems. This has been done in the past by the National Association of State Election
Directors.
The Standards for vote accuracy require that all systems must:
In addition, Direct Recording Electronic voting systems must be able to record and retain
redundant copies of the original ballot image.
Voting equipment vendors must submit hardware, firmware, and software to an Independent
Test Authority (ITA) for evaluation against the Standards.
Signature Verification
Before absentee ballots are processed, the signature on the security envelope is checked
against the signature of that voter contained in the registration files. In 2005, the Legislature
required the Secretary to establish guidelines, in consultation with state and local law
enforcement or certified document examiners, for signature verification processes. All
election personnel assigned to verify signatures must receive training on the guidelines.
Disability Access Voting
The HAVA requires that disability access voting must be offered using disability access
voting devices that meet access requirements. Specifically, the HAVA requires that a voting
system "be accessible for individuals with disabilities, including nonvisual accessibility for
the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access
and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters."
County auditors are responsible for the designation of disability access voting locations in the
county. At the discretion of the county auditor, the period for disability access voting may
begin 20 days before an election and end one day before the election; however, he or she may
set the end of the disability access voting period to satisfy requirements for printing and
distributing poll books to the polls in order to prevent multiple voting. The auditor is
required to maintain a system to prevent multiple voting.
Summary of Engrossed Substitute Bill:
The requirement that a voting device be used in another state before it may be certified in
Washington is removed. Instead, it is required that the device be tested and certified by an
ITA designated by the EAC. The requirement that voting equipment allow the voter to vote
for candidates of multiple political parties is removed.
Dates for disability access voting are changed from permissive to mandatory. The ending
date for disability access voting is changed from one day before the election to the day of the
election. County auditors are required to provide voting systems certified by the Secretary for
disability access.
County auditors are required to establish an advisory committee that includes persons with
disabilities and persons with expertise in providing accommodations for persons with
disabilities. The committee is to assist election officials in developing a plan to improve the
accessibility of elections for voters with disabilities.
County auditors may use automated signature verification systems to verify signatures on
absentee ballot security envelopes, as long as the system has been approved by the Secretary.
The Secretary is directed to adopt rules and standards for approval and implementation of
hardware and software for these automated systems.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: (In support) The Secretary of State (Secretary) supports the bill. The first
change that is made relates to the availability of disability access equipment. Most voters in
the state have two and one-half weeks to vote, and this time is extended to voters who use
disability access voting equipment. Right now, the law requires that the equipment be
available on election day and that is being changed so that it will be available for the same
period allowed for absentee voters. Other changes are made regarding approval of voting
devices. The current law permits a voter to vote for all of the candidates of one party or for
candidates of one or more other parties. That language, as you know, is no longer valid and
needs to be removed to be consistent with the Montana-style primary. There is currently a
requirement that voting equipment must be used in another state before it is used here. That
worked very well when voting equipment did not change much. But voting equipment has
been changing rapidly. We are up against a time crunch to comply with requirements put in
place by federal law. Equipment used in another state does not mean that it has been through
any testing standards in those states. It is more appropriate to rely on the testing standards
put in place by the federal government, including testing by independent testing authorities.
It is also tested at the state level, and again at the county level before it is put into use. The
League of Women Voters has written a letter of support indicating that the state should be
able to certify and test equipment not already used in another state. The testing done in
California and Florida was done by hackers and the access that was provided to them was
outside of normal procedures. Testing here does take into account the testing done in other
states. Staff in the Secretary's office went to California to see the testing there. Rather than
rely on the unknown testing standards in other states, it is better to rely on the known testing
standards at the federal level. State testing has improved. It is an open process and involves
a public hearing. Security procedures for disability access machines are the same as those
used for other machines on election day. Steps are taken to make sure that the memory disk
is not removed. County auditors have discretion in terms of hours and location of the
equipment. At a minimum, they would have to have the equipment in their office for that
time period. The equipment has to be available for 20 days to comply with equal access
laws. The county auditors are in support of the bill. The 20 day window would require that
the machines be available at the auditor's office. Later, the auditor's can expand the locations
and how many hours the machines are available. Auditors do have some discretion. The
machines can accommodate various types of disabilities. There is more work to be done in
reaching other groups through technological changes. This is one reason why it is important
to remove the requirement that voting equipment be used in other states.
(With concerns) The security of the equipment is of concern and some of the testing that has
been done recently. The requirement that the equipment be used in at least one other state
should be retained. The vendors have had four years to develop equipment compliant with
HAVA. The laws of the state should not be changed to protect equipment vendors. The
people's votes must be counted accurately. The requirement that the equipment be tested by
an ITA is good, but that should not be the only test. There is very little or no security testing.
Simply asking an ITA to test is good but not adequate. The additional level of security needs
to be maintained.
Testimony Against: Voters Unite opposes the bill. The bill analysis mentions voting system standards, but those standards are not in place and won't be in place for two years. The early voting situation for the disabled is supported to a point. It doesn't say that it is only for the disabled. Early voting is a real trouble area for a lot of people because secrecy of the vote is lost. The ITA system was witnessed in Olympia last fall. Tests were done with a lot of flailing around. If not for the law that requires the equipment to be tested in another state, that system would have been certified in this state. In California, systems failed there that are used here. Many failed with blue screens, crashes, and other problems. Later another test was run and all the problems had been taken care of. The hacker in Florida discovered banned software on the memory cards in those machines and Florida has sent the cards back to the ITAs for questions. The hurdle requiring systems be used in other states needs to be in place.
Persons Testifying: (In support) Katie Blinn, Shane Hamlin, and Pamela Floyd, Office of
the Secretary of State.
(With concerns) James Zukowski.
(Opposed) John Gideon, Voters Unite.