Voting Access on Indian Reservations and Tribal Lands.
Federal law recognizes Indian tribes as sovereign governments with inherent powers of self-governance. Tribal sovereignty includes the power to regulate within tribal territory and certain immunity from state authority. Tribal lands may have different ownership statuses as a result of centuries of shifting federal policymaking. Common land holdings include trust lands, restricted fee lands, and fee lands. Other types of land designations include allotted lands, federal Indian reservations, and Indian country. "Allotted lands" are trust or restricted fee parcels of land held by a tribal member. "Federal Indian reservations" are areas reserved for a tribe, or multiple tribes, as permanent homelands through treaties, executive orders, acts of Congress, and administrative actions. "Indian country" typically refers to all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the federal government, all dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States, and all allotted lands to which the titles held by tribal members have not been extinguished.
In 2019 Washington established measures to assist members of tribal nations in voting in state and local elections. At the request of a tribal nation with a reservation in the county, the county auditor must, at no cost to the tribe, establish at least one ballot drop box on the tribe's reservation at a site selected by the tribe. The county auditor must collect ballots from designated pickup and collection locations using the same procedures as collection from ballot drop boxes. Ballot drop boxes and ballot pickup and collection locations must be accessible to the county auditor by public road. Voters who reside on an Indian reservation or Indian land may use nontraditional residential addresses for voter registration purposes. A voter may use a designated tribal government building on an Indian reservation or on Indian land as their residential and mailing address if the voter's residence is in the same precinct, or mailing address if the voter's residence is in a different precinct. If the Secretary of State (Secretary) can obtain a copy of the applicant's signature from the tribal identification issuer, then a person with a valid tribal identification card may use that identification card to register to vote on the Secretary's website. Tribal identification does not need to include a residential address to be considered valid. At a tribe's request, the Governor must designate any state or state-funded facility located on the tribe's land, or that provides services to Indian tribes, to provide voter registration services.
Overseas and Uniformed Service Voters.
Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), federal law allows United States citizens living abroad, those who are active military or uniformed services members, and the family members of such persons to register and vote absentee in federal elections. Washington election statutes and rules adopted by the Secretary similarly provide processes for citizens covered by the UOCAVA to register and vote absentee in state and local elections. Uniformed service and overseas voters may return a voted ballot by mail, fax, or email no later than 8:00 p.m. on election day.
Voters with Disabilities.
Voters with a disability can request a reasonable accommodation from their local county elections department, including an accessible voters' pamphlet, accessible voting units, and assistance voting a ballot. Voting centers must meet all of the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements including sufficient physical accessibility in adjacent areas outside of the voting center and inside the voting center.
Tribal Outreach.
To the extent practicable, each county auditor must schedule three types of meetings with each federally recognized Indian tribe located in whole or in part within the county.
First, the county auditor must schedule a meeting to take place no later than August 1 of each odd-numbered year to discuss the details for the next regularly scheduled election cycle. Such meeting may be used to discuss the:
Second, the county auditor must schedule a meeting to take place no later than September 1 of each odd-numbered year to confirm details relating to the establishment and operation of voting centers or ballot drop boxes. The meeting may address:
Third, the county auditor must schedule a meeting on an ongoing basis during the year of an election if a federally recognized Indian tribe elects to establish any voting centers or ballot drop boxes within an Indian reservation.
If a county auditor is unable to make contact with a federally recognized Indian tribe to carry out the meeting requirements, the county auditor must contact the Secretary to facilitate contact. If a county auditor has not contacted a federally recognized Indian tribe, a representative of the federally recognized Indian tribe may contact the Secretary to facilitate contact.
Electronic Ballot Portal.
The Secretary must establish an electronic ballot portal that allows service voters, overseas voters, voters with a disability, and any voter who is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and resides on an Indian reservation, to return a voted ballot. The Secretary may approve an electronic ballot portal for use by counties in elections. Any approved portal must be renewed annually and such approval may be revoked under circumstances determined by the Secretary, by rule, to ensure the integrity and security of elections and protect the secrecy of each vote. The Secretary must adopt rules governing the use of any electronic ballot portal including times of availability and storage of ballots, as well as standards and procedures for the examination and testing of any portal used by counties. Each county election office using an approved portal must keep a record of every attempt at ballot return and prepare a report at the conclusion of each voting period listing the number of ballots returned using the portal and confirming that only eligible voters used the portal. The report must be submitted to the Secretary at the same time as certification of election results. The Secretary must aggregate the information provided by each county and include it in the statewide reconciliation report.
Work Group.
A work group, chaired by the Secretary, is created and consists of the following members as appointed by the Secretary: two county auditors or the county auditor's designee, a representative from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, a representative from a nonprofit educational research organization with expertise in electronic voting methods, and other experts and staff deemed necessary by the Secretary. The work group is tasked with advising the Office of the Secretary of State in its work to implement the electronic ballot portal. The work group expires on January 1, 2034.
The various provisions of the act must be implemented by January 1, 2029.
(In support) Elections should be as inclusive as possible. This bill codifies the state's commitment to find ways to better serve and engage Native American voters in an effort to increase voter turnout among Native American voters. Currently, even at the highest rates, the highest level of participation is only at 36 percent of Native Americans voting who are eligible to vote; typically the rates are around 15 or 18 percent. The state and counties have done good work to increase that turnout and this bill would build on that work. Regularly meeting with tribal leaders to continually seek ways to serve and engage Native American voters is essential to increasing voter turnout in those communities. The requirement for counties to conduct outreach with tribes and schedule regular meetings is an important step toward formalizing the collaboration needed between the state and tribes; most counties are already doing this but the bill would provide consistent standards.
The bill also creates an electronic ballot return portal that will help military, overseas, and other voters access the ballot more easily. Ballot portals are already in use across the country and have shown that they are reliable and secure. King County has effectively piloted such a portal with the King Conservation District for the last several years. There is a paper trail for every single ballot cast, and the system is protected by layers of security. This increase in accessibility does not come at the expense of election security. Electronic ballot return already exists because military and overseas voters can currently return their voted ballot by fax or email. However, from a cybersecurity perspective, this is not the best practice because emails are not secure. Ballot portal technology would be an improvement to what exists today for electronic ballot returns. Ballot portal technology also increases access for voters with disabilities or in underserved populations that have difficulties with the elections process. Democracy works best when all voices are heard, and the state should reduce barriers to voting, particularly for those communities that have been historically left behind and pushed out of participating.
(Opposed) None.
(Other) It is very important to the Office of the Secretary of State (OSOS) to conduct tribal outreach and to increase voter turnout among underserved communities. Requiring the establishment of an electronic ballot return portal, however, is more concerning because the OSOS would want to first look at the available technology including cybersecurity features and software to test the portal. From there, the OSOS would develop a proof of concept and then rigorously test the portal from all angles. These first steps should occur before requiring any development of an electronic ballot return portal.
(In support) Representative Chris Stearns, prime sponsor; Julie Wise, King County Director of Elections; and Linda Farmer, WSACA Legislative Co Chair.