Findings—Intent—2018 c 109: "The legislature is committed to granting equal access to voter registration for all voters. The legislature recognizes the importance of fostering lifelong civic participation. Currently, many young people are denied access to the most popular form of voter registration, motor voter. If a young person obtains a driver's license at the age of sixteen or seventeen, they may not register to vote. Denial of motor voter to so many young voters has contributed to lower voter registration levels in the youngest voter age groups. In Washington, according to 2016 United States census bureau statistics, only twenty-one percent of eligible citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four are registered to vote. Studies show that young adults who vote are likely to continue to do so throughout adulthood. The legislature recognizes that these representational disparities in registration rates and voting rates within the youth electorate will improve by enacting election policies that engage all young citizens. Therefore, the legislature declares that this act, allowing eligible youth at least sixteen years of age to preregister to vote, is intended to increase voter turnout in young adults." [
2018 c 109 s 1.]