HOUSE BILL REPORT
SHB 773
BYHouse Committee on Constitution, Elections & Ethics (originally sponsored by Representatives Holm, Nealey, Haugen, Barnes, Holland, Dellwo, Jesernig, P. King, Winsley and Betrozoff)
Allowing county auditors to investigate and cancel invalid voter registration.
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 PASSED HOUSE MARCH 12, 1987
BACKGROUND:
The county auditor must cancel the voter registration of a person unless the person has voted at any primary or election within the past 24 months or at the most recent Presidential election.
State law permits elections to be conducted by mail ballot under certain circumstances.
SUMMARY:
The county auditor shall inquire into the validity of the registration of a voter if any of the following is returned by the postal service as undeliverable: a vote-by-mail ballot, a notification to the voter following reprecincting of the county, a notification of selection to serve on jury duty, or the initial voter identification card.
The auditor shall initiate the inquiry by sending a written notice by first class mail to the challenged voter at the address indicated on the voter's permanent registration record. The notice shall contain the nature of the inquiry, provide a suitable form for reply, and contain a warning that the auditor must receive a response within 45 days of the mailing or the individual's voter registration will be cancelled. Upon receipt of the voter's response, the auditor shall consider the inquiry satisfied and make any corrections requested by the voter on the registration record.
The auditor shall cancel the registration of a voter who fails to respond to the notice of inquiry within the 45 day period and shall notify the voter of the cancellation by mail. If a voter responds no later than 45 days of the mailing of the cancellation notice, the auditor may reinstate the voter.
If a person's voter registration has been cancelled under this procedure and the person, within a period of four years following the cancellation, applies for an absentee ballot or offers to vote at the polling place, the person shall be permitted to vote a challenged ballot. If, in considering the challenged ballot, the canvassing board determines that the voter's registration was improperly cancelled, the ballot shall be counted and the voter's registration shall be reinstated.
EFFECT OF SENATE AMENDMENT(S): The notice of inquiry that is sent to certain voters under the terms of the bill shall contain a warning that the county auditor must receive a response within 60 days (rather than 45 days as in the House version of the bill) or the voter's registration will be cancelled. (The provisions of the bill requiring the cancellation of a registration if a response is not received within 45 days remain unchanged.) If a response to a subsequent notice of cancellation is timely received, the auditor shall (rather than may, as in the House version of the bill) reinstate the voter.
Fiscal Note: Requested February 25, 1987.
House Committee ‑ Testified For: Karen Franzen, Kitsap County Auditor; Darlene Derozier, Cowlitz County Auditor; Al Brotche, Mason County Auditor; Phyllis Piercey, Grays Harbor County Auditor; Dean Williams, Snohomish County Auditor; Sam Reed, Thurston County Auditor; Kathleen Collins, Association of Washington Cities.
House Committee - Testified Against: None Presented.
House Committee - Testimony For: Mobility of the national population leads to inaccurate voter registration files. It is costly to maintain these files. Inaccuracies decrease the cost effectiveness of actions taken to conduct elections and increase the risk that elections will be challenged. The bill will increase the integrity of the files, increase cost effectiveness, and provide notices to voters which will result in many of them transferring to the correct precinct to vote.
House Committee - Testimony Against: None Presented.
VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE:
Yeas 94; Nays 0; Absent 0; Excused 4
Excused: Representatives Allen, Hankins, Nealey and K. Wilson