HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 614

BYRepresentatives Fisher, Madsen, Miller, Fisch, Crane and Unsoeld

Revising laws on absentee voters.

House Committe on Constitution, Elections & Ethics

Majority Report:     The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (7)

     Signed by Representatives Fisher, Chair; Pruitt, Vice Chair; Amondson, Barnes, Fisch, Leonard and Sanders.

House Staff:Kenneth Hirst (786-7105)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTION, ELECTIONS & ETHICS

FEBRUARY 24, 1987

BACKGROUND:

To vote by absentee ballot, a registered voter must apply in writing to the county auditor during the period 45 days to one day prior to an election or primary.  An application for a primary ballot serves as the application for a ballot for the following election if so indicated on the application.  These procedures also apply to voters who are temporarily outside of the state.

Other statutes specify procedures for absentee ballots for service voters. A service voter is defined as being an elector from any of the following categories: members of the armed forces while in the active service and students and faculty members of the U.S. military academies; members of the U.S. merchant marine; civilian employees of the U.S. serving outside the territorial limits of the states of the U.S. and the District of Columbia; members of religious groups of welfare agencies assisting members of the armed forces who are officially attached to and serving with the armed forces; and citizens of the U.S. and the state temporarily residing outside of the state.  It also applies to the spouses and dependents of such persons.  In a 1975 opinion, the attorney general suggested that the legal residence of a spouse for voting purposes must be established on the basis of the same legal principles as apply to other persons.

State law authorizes a voter to receive a special "write-in" absentee ballot 90 days before a primary or election if the voter will be residing, stationed, or working outside the continental U.S. and will be unable to return a regular absentee ballot by normal mail delivery during the required period.  State law also authorizes disabled voters and voters over the age of 65 to apply for and be granted the status of "ongoing" absentee voters.

SUMMARY:

SUBSTITUTE BILL:  The legislature expresses its intention to combine and unify the laws and procedures governing absentee voting. No new requirement on the ability of the registered voters or electors of this state to qualify for, receive, or cast absentee ballots is intended.

An out-of-state voter is defined as being an elector of the state temporarily outside of the state but not outside the territorial limits of the United States or the District of Columbia.  An overseas voter is defined as being an elector of the state temporarily outside the territorial limits of the United States or the District of Columbia.  A service voter is defined as being an elector of the state who is a:  member of the armed forces while in active service, student or member of the faculty at a U.S. military academy, member of the U.S. merchant marine, or member of a religious group or welfare agency officially attached to and serving with the U.S. armed forces.

The provisions of law governing absentee voting by service voters are repealed and provisions of law governing absentee voting by others are expanded to incorporate voting by out-of-state, overseas, and service voters as well. Either the application for an absentee ballot from an out-of- state voter, overseas voter, or service voter or the oath on the return envelope for such a voter shall include a declaration of the qualifications of the applicant as an elector of this state (under current law, a service voter's request for an absentee ballot must list the facts qualifying the person as a service voter).

The provisions of law authorizing certain disabled voters to become "ongoing" absentee voters are altered.  A disabled voter is also a person who qualifies to receive voting assistance under state law.

A registered voter shall not be allowed to vote in the precinct polling place at any primary or election for which the voter has cast an absentee ballot (rather than, under current law, at any primary or election for which the voter has requested an absentee ballot). A person who has requested an absentee ballot but wishes to vote at the polling place must vote a "questioned" or challenged ballot.

The authority of the secretary of state to adopt rules governing absentee ballots and voting by absentee ballots in expanded.

Absentee ballots shall be grouped and counted by congressional and legislative district (rather than by legislative district). Lists of information from absentee ballot applications are to be made available to the public (rather than lists of the applications and the applications themselves being made available).  The qualifications of an absentee voter may be challenged at the time the signature on the return envelope is verified and the ballot is processed (rather than at the time the ballot is canvassed).

It is expressly stated that all properly and timely voted absentee ballots which have been received on or before the 10th day after a special election or primary or the 15th day after a general election shall be included in the canvass for that primary or election.  Meetings of the canvassing board are public meetings.

Provisions of law are repealed which: require the issuance of certificates for absentee ballot requests; list voting instructions to be enclosed with an absentee ballot sent to a voter; establish an alternative method for processing absentee ballots; permit a candidate to have uncounted absentee ballots informally counted after the time has elapsed in which to file a recount or contested election; and specify certain procedures for entering the names of persons who cast absentee ballots onto registration records.  Also deleted from law are provisions specifying the content of absentee ballots, the size of the ballot envelope, the form of the oath for a person voting by absentee ballot, the nature of the seals and vaults to be used for storing voted absentee ballots, and certain other procedures used in absentee voting.

The provisions of the bill take effect on January 1, 1988.

SUBSTITUTE BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  Added by the substitute bill are provisions requiring a person, who has requested an absentee ballot but desires to vote at the polling place, to cast a "questioned" ballot the validity of which is determined by the canvassing board.  The original bill requires an application from an out-of-state, overseas, or service voter to include a declaration of the qualifications of the applicant as an elector of this state; the substitute requires either the application or the oath on the return envelope to include such a declaration.

Fiscal Note:    Requested February 13, 1987.

Effective Date:The provisions of the bill take effect on January 1, 1988.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:     Jane Hague, Auditors' Association; Sam Reed, Thurston County Auditor; Don Whiting, Office of the Secretary of State.

House Committee - Testified Against: None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:     (1) The bill is the first step in rewriting the Election Code. It takes much of the administrative detail out of the statutes, which will permit rules to provide different procedures for different voting systems. (2) The bill consolidates absentee ballot provisions into one chapter which will make it easier to read and to amend this portion of the code.

House Committee - Testimony Against: None Presented.