Election audits

AN ACT Relating to ensuring election integrity at the county 1
level; adding a new section to chapter 29A.60 RCW; creating new 2
sections; and declaring an emergency. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. It is the intent of the legislature to 5
assure all voters in the state that only legitimate votes are counted 6
accurately in Washington state elections.7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 29A.60 8
RCW to read as follows: 9
(1) For purposes of this section, "company" means an impartial, 10
independent company selected to perform the audit of a county's 11
election results described in this section. 12
(2)(a) For audits of the 2024 general election mandated under 13
section 3 of this act, the company shall be selected by the 14
democratic and republican party chairpersons of the county. If the 15
chairpersons cannot agree on a company to audit the county's election 16
results, the company shall be chosen by coin toss.17
(b) For subsequent election cycles, the democratic and republican 18
party chairpersons of a particular county may select the same or a 19
different vendor. 20
H-0749.1
HOUSE BILL 1745
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Chase and Walsh
Read first time 01/30/25. Referred to Committee on State Government
& Tribal Relations.
p. 1 HB 1745
(3) Beginning immediately after certification of the election, 1
the company shall conduct a statistically significant manual hand 2
count audit of all ballots tabulated for that election, including 3
duplicated and adjudicated ballots, in at least 12 precincts in the 4
county. The 12 precincts selected for the audit shall be chosen by 5
the county democratic and republican party chairpersons, with each 6
party choosing six precincts. In counties where the number of ballots 7
cast in the 12 chosen precincts is fewer than five percent of the 8
total number of ballots cast, additional precincts must be selected 9
until at least five percent of ballots cast are included in the 10
audit. 11
(4) The races or ballot measures counted for the audit shall be 12
selected by the democratic and republican party chairpersons of the 13
county and may be different races or ballot measures for each 14
precinct. 15
(5) The auditing method shall be a manual hand count of the 16
physical ballots, performed by examining the votes marked on each 17
ballot for the race or issue selected for the individual precinct as 18
compared to the results generated from running those same ballots 19
through the county's tabulation equipment. 20
(6) Public election observers must be allowed to observe all 21
processes of the audit beginning with locating the ballots for each 22
precinct, sorting and counting ballots, and the results of the audit. 23
Observers must also be permitted to examine duplicated and 24
adjudicated ballots from the precincts subject to the audit, 25
alongside the original ballots, to determine the accuracy of the 26
duplications and adjudications. 27
(7) By December 31st in the same year as the election, the 28
company must submit a report to the legislature detailing the 29
findings of the audit and any recommendations to improve ballot 30
integrity in future elections. 31
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Within 30 days of the effective date of 32
this section, an audit of the 2024 general election must be performed 33
in each county following the procedures described in section 2 of 34
this act.35
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This act is necessary for the immediate 36
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 37
p. 2 HB 1745
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 1
effect immediately. 2
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p. 3 HB 1745