SENATE BILL REPORT
SB 5208
As of January 16, 2023
Title: An act relating to updating the process for online voter registration by allowing voter applicants to provide the last four digits of social security number for authentication.
Brief Description: Updating the process for online voter registration by allowing voter applicants to provide the last four digits of social security number for authentication.
Sponsors: Senators Trudeau, King, Hunt, Nobles, Randall, Keiser, Kuderer, Lovick, Salda?a, Hasegawa, Liias, Conway, Frame, Nguyen, Pedersen, Stanford, Valdez, Wellman and Wilson, C.; by request of Secretary of State.
Brief History:
Committee Activity: State Government & Elections: 1/17/23.
Brief Summary of Bill
  • Permits an applicant to use of the last four digits of a social security number to verify their identity when registering to vote online.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT & ELECTIONS
Staff: Samuel Brown (786-7470)
Background:

Registering to Vote.  Persons who are age 18 or older and who are United States citizens that have lived in the state, county, and precinct for 30 days immediately preceding an election are entitled to vote.  To register to vote, a person must provide a name, traditional or nontraditional residential address, date of birth, signature attesting the truth of the information provided, and an indication of United States citizenship.  The Secretary of State's website also offers electronic voter registration.  A person seeking to register electronically must have a valid Washington State driver's license, state identification card, or tribal identification card so the Secretary of State may obtain a copy of the person's signature.

 

Confirmation Notices.  Elections officials place a voter on inactive status and send confirmation notices if receiving information from the United States Postal Service, Department of Licensing, or another agency providing voter registration services that the voter has moved, or documents mailed by the county auditor to the voter are returned as undeliverable.  Confirmation notices are mailed to all addresses where mail could reasonably be expected to be received by the voter, and include a pre-paid, pre-addressed form for the voter to confirm their accurate address information.  The voter is returned to active status and their registration address is updated upon return of the confirmation notice.

Summary of Bill:

An online applicant to register to vote may use the last four digits of their social security number to verify their identity.  An online applicant to register to vote who provides a tribal identification number or the last four digits of a social security number to verify their identity may submit a signature image to the Secretary of State, or as part of the confirmation notice process.

Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.  New fiscal note requested on January 16, 2023.
Creates Committee/Commission/Task Force that includes Legislative members: No.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect on July 15, 2024.