S-0140.2
SENATE BILL 5143
State of Washington 67th Legislature 2021 Regular Session
By Senators Ericksen, Fortunato, Padden, and Schoesler
Read first time 01/12/21. Referred to Committee on State Government
& Elections.
1 AN ACT Relating to creating the free and fair elections act of
2 2021; amending RCW 29A.40.160, 29A.40.180, 29A.40.010, 29A.40.070,
3 29A.40.091, 1.16.050, 29A.04.321, and 29A.04.330; adding a new
4 section to chapter 29A.04 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 29A.08
5 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 29A.40 RCW; adding a new chapter
6 to Title 29A RCW; creating a new section; repealing RCW 29A.08.140;
7 and prescribing penalties.
8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
9 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the
10 free and fair elections act of 2021.
11 PART I
12 ELIMINATION OF VOTE BY MAIL AND RETURN TO POLLING PLACE VOTING
13 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 29A.04
14 RCW to read as follows:
15 "Polling place voting" means voting conducted at polling places
16 for precincts.
17 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Counties must establish polling place
18 voting in each precinct within the county.
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1 (2) If no polling place facilities are available within a
2 precinct, precinct election officers must work with county election
3 officers to establish an alternate polling place outside the
4 precinct. However, the alternate facility must be located within a
5 reasonable distance of the voting precinct.
6 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Upon establishing polling place voting
7 pursuant to section 3 of this act, the county election officers must
8 provide pertinent information regarding polling place locations and
9 voting procedures to county voters.
10 NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Polling places must be accessible to
11 elderly and disabled persons.
12 NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A person may not interfere with a voter
13 attempting to vote at a polling place. Interfering with a voter
14 attempting to vote is a violation of RCW 29A.84.510.
15 NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Any voter may take into the voting booth
16 or voting device any printed or written material to assist in casting
17 his or her vote. A voter must not use this material to electioneer
18 and must remove the material when he or she leaves the polling place.
19 NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. At any election or primary, a political
20 party may designate a person, other than a precinct election officer,
21 for each polling place to check a list of registered voters of the
22 precinct to determine who has and who has not voted. The county
23 central committee chair of a political party may appoint election
24 observers to observe elections at polling places.
25 NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Ballots may not be used in any polling
26 place other than those prepared by the county election officer. A
27 voter is not entitled to vote more than once at a primary or
28 election, except that if a voter incorrectly marks a ballot, he or
29 she may return it and be issued a new ballot. Precinct election
30 officers shall void incorrectly marked ballots and return them to the
31 county election officer.
32 NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Paper records produced by electronic
33 voting devices are subject to all the requirements of this chapter
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 1 and chapter 29A.60 RCW for ballot handling, preservation,
2 reconciliation, transit to the counting center, and storage. Paper
3 records must be preserved in the same manner and for the same period
4 as ballots.
5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. (1) At the direction of the county
6 election officer, designated election officers must stop at
7 designated polling places and pick up sealed containers of voted,
8 untallied ballots for delivery to the counting center. Two precinct
9 election officers must seal the voted ballots in containers furnished
10 by the county election officer and properly identified with uniquely
11 prenumbered seals.
12 (2) At the counting center where sealed ballot containers are
13 delivered, the county election officer or a designated representative
14 must receive the sealed ballot containers, record the time, date,
15 precinct name or number, and seal number of each ballot container.
16 NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The county election officer must provide
17 in each polling place a sufficient number of voting booths or voting
18 devices along with any supplies necessary to enable voters to mark or
19 register their choices on ballots and cast their votes in secrecy.
20 NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. (1) During election day for all primaries
21 and elections, polling places must be kept open continuously from
22 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
23 (2) All qualified electors who are at polling places at eight
24 o'clock p.m. must be allowed to cast their votes.
25 (3) The precinct election officers, immediately before they start
26 to issue ballots or permit a voter to vote, shall announce that the
27 polling place for that precinct is open. At 8:00 p.m., or at the time
28 when all qualified electors at the polling place pursuant to
29 subsection (2) of this section have voted, the precinct election
30 officers shall announce that the polling place for that precinct is
31 closed.
32 NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. A registered voter may not be allowed to
33 vote in the precinct in which he or she is registered at any election
34 or primary for which that voter has cast an absentee ballot. A
35 registered voter who has requested an absentee ballot for a primary
36 or election, but chooses to vote at the voter's precinct polling
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 1 place in that primary or election, must cast a provisional ballot.
2 The canvassing board must not count a provisional ballot if it finds
3 that the voter has also voted by mail in that primary or election.
4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. No later than the day before a primary or
5 election, the county election officer must provide to precinct
6 election officers at each polling place the following materials:
7 (1) Ballots;
8 (2) Precinct list of registered voters;
9 (3) Voting and registration instructions, printed in large type,
10 to be conspicuously displayed at each polling place; and
11 (4) Accessible voting equipment.
12 NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. Precinct election officers for each
13 precinct must meet at designated polling places at the time set by
14 the county election officer.
15 NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. (1) Before opening the polling place for
16 a precinct, the voting equipment must be inspected to determine if it
17 has been properly prepared for voting. If the voting equipment is
18 capable of direct tabulation of each voter's choices, the precinct
19 election officers shall verify that no votes have been registered for
20 any issue or office to be voted on at that primary or election. The
21 precinct election officers must periodically examine the voting
22 devices to determine that no one has tampered with the devices.
23 (2) Any ballot box must be carefully examined by election
24 officers to determine that it is empty. The ballot box must then be
25 sealed or locked. The ballot box must not be opened before the
26 polling place is closed on the day of the primary or election.
27 NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. At all primaries and elections, the flag
28 of the United States must be conspicuously displayed in front of each
29 polling place.
30 NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. Any voting equipment approved by the
31 office of the secretary of state for voting in a polling place must
32 be capable of producing a paper record with a manual audit capacity
33 for the system.
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 1 NEW SECTION. Sec. 20. Sections 3 through 19 of this act
2 constitute a new chapter in Title 29A RCW.
3 PART II
4 PICTURE ID REQUIREMENT TO VOTE
5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 21. A new section is added to chapter 29A.08
6 RCW to read as follows:
7 (1) Any person desiring to vote at any primary or election is
8 required to provide identification to the election officer before
9 signing the poll book. The identification required in this section
10 can be satisfied by providing a valid photo identification, such as a
11 driver's license or state identification card, student identification
12 card, or tribal identification card, or a voter's voter
13 identification issued by a county election officer.
14 (2) Any individual who desires to vote in person but cannot
15 provide identification as required by this section must be issued a
16 provisional ballot.
17 (3) The secretary of state may adopt rules to carry out this
18 section.
19 PART III
20 FREE VOTER ID PROGRAM
21 NEW SECTION. Sec. 22. A new section is added to chapter 29A.08
22 RCW to read as follows:
23 (1) Each county auditor shall provide at least one place in the
24 county at which it accepts applications for and issues Washington
25 voter identification cards to registered Washington electors, which
26 are under state law valid only for purposes of voter identification
27 under section 21 of this act and available only to registered
28 electors of this state. No fee may be charged or collected for the
29 application for or issuance of a Washington voter identification
30 card.
31 (2) No person is eligible for a Washington voter identification
32 card if such person has a valid unexpired driver's license or
33 identification card issued under chapter 46.20 RCW.
34 (3) The Washington voter identification card must be captioned
35 "WASHINGTON VOTER IDENTIFICATION CARD" and must contain a prominent
36 statement that under Washington law it is valid only as
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 1 identification for voting purposes. The Washington voter
2 identification card must be laminated, must contain a digital color
3 photograph of the applicant, and must include the following
4 information:
5 (a) Full legal name;
6 (b) Address of residence;
7 (c) Date of birth;
8 (d) Date identification card was issued;
9 (e) Sex;
10 (f) Height;
11 (g) Weight;
12 (h) Eye color;
13 (i) County where the identification card was issued, including a
14 county number to be assigned for each county by the secretary of
15 state; and
16 (j) Such other information or identification as required by rule
17 of the secretary of state.
18 (4) The application for a Washington voter identification card
19 must elicit the information required under subsection (3) of this
20 section and such other information as may be required by the
21 secretary of state. The application must be signed and affirmed by
22 the applicant. It is a misdemeanor for any applicant to make a false
23 statement or knowingly conceal a material fact or otherwise commit a
24 fraud in an application for a Washington voter identification card.
25 (5) The following information must be presented and verified
26 before a Washington voter identification card is issued:
27 (a) A photo identity document, or a nonphoto identity document
28 which includes the applicant's full legal name and date of birth;
29 (b) Documentation showing the person's date of birth;
30 (c) Evidence that the person is registered to vote in Washington;
31 and
32 (d) Documentation showing the person's name and address of
33 principal residence.
34 (6) A Washington voter identification card remains valid so long
35 as a person resides in the same county and remains qualified to vote.
36 It is the duty of a person who moves his or her residence within the
37 state outside of the county in which a Washington voter
38 identification card was issued to surrender his or her card to the
39 auditor of the county of his or her new residence; and such person
40 may, after such surrender, apply for and receive a new card if such
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 1 person is otherwise eligible under this section. It is the duty of a
2 person who moves his or her residence outside the state or who ceases
3 to be qualified to vote to surrender his or her card to the county
4 auditor by which it was issued.
5 (7) The secretary of state shall provide each county auditor with
6 the necessary equipment, forms, supplies, and training for the
7 production of the Washington voter identification cards and shall
8 maintain such equipment.
9 (8) The secretary of state may adopt rules for the implementation
10 of this section.
11 PART IV
12 EARLY POLL VOTING
13 Sec. 23. RCW 29A.40.160 and 2019 c 6 s 6 are each amended to
14 read as follows:
15 (1) Each county auditor shall open a voting center each primary,
16 special election, and general election. The voting center shall be
17 open during business hours during the voting period, which begins
18 ((eighteen days before,)) at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 8:00 p.m. on the
19 two Saturdays and Sunday before and the day of, the primary, special
20 election, or general election. Voting at a voting center may only be
21 conducted during the voting period.
22 (2) Each county auditor shall register voters in person at each
23 of the following locations in the county:
24 (a) At the county auditor's office;
25 (b) At the division of elections, if located in a separate city
26 from the county auditor's office; and
27 (c) For each presidential general election, at a voting center in
28 each city in the county with a population of one hundred thousand or
29 greater, which does not have a voting center as required in (a) or
30 (b) of this subsection. ((A voting center opened pursuant to this
31 subsection (2) is not required to be open on the Sunday before the
32 presidential election.))
33 (3) Voting centers shall be located in public buildings or
34 buildings that are leased by a public entity including, but not
35 limited to, libraries. Centers established per this section must be
36 geographically located so as to provide all voters in the county an
37 equal opportunity to cast a ballot, insofar as practicable.
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 1 (4) Each voting center, and at least one of the other locations
2 designated by the county auditor to allow voters to register in
3 person pursuant to ((RCW 29A.08.140(1)(b))) section 32 of this act,
4 must provide voter registration materials, ballots, provisional
5 ballots, disability access voting units, sample ballots, instructions
6 on how to properly vote the ballot, a ballot drop box, and voters'
7 pamphlets, if a voters' pamphlet has been published.
8 (5) Each voting center must be accessible to persons with
9 disabilities. Each state agency and entity of local government shall
10 permit the use of any of its accessible facilities as voting centers
11 when requested by a county auditor.
12 (6) Each voting center must provide at least one voting unit
13 certified by the secretary of state that provides access to
14 individuals who are blind or visually impaired, enabling them to vote
15 with privacy and independence.
16 (7) No person may interfere with a voter attempting to vote in a
17 voting center. Interfering with a voter attempting to vote is a
18 violation of RCW 29A.84.510.
19 (8) Before opening the voting center, the voting equipment shall
20 be inspected to determine if it has been properly prepared for
21 voting. If the voting equipment is capable of direct tabulation of
22 each voter's choices, the county auditor shall verify that no votes
23 have been registered for any issue or office, and that the device has
24 been sealed with a unique numbered seal at the time of final
25 preparation and logic and accuracy testing. A log must be made of all
26 device numbers and seal numbers.
27 (9) The county auditor shall require any person desiring to vote
28 at a voting center to either sign a ballot declaration or provide
29 identification.
30 (a) The signature on the declaration must be compared to the
31 signature on the voter registration record before the ballot may be
32 counted. If the voter registered using a mark, or can no longer sign
33 his or her name, the election officers shall require the voter to be
34 identified by another registered voter.
35 (b) The identification must be valid photo identification, such
36 as a driver's license, state identification card, student
37 identification card, tribal identification card, or employer
38 identification card. A tribal identification card is not required to
39 include a residential address or an expiration date to be considered
40 valid under this section. Any individual who desires to vote in
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 1 person but cannot provide identification shall be issued a
2 provisional ballot, which shall be accepted if the signature on the
3 declaration matches the signature on the