Agency voter registration

AN ACT Relating to expansion of voter registration services by 1
government agencies; and amending RCW 29A.08.365, 29A.08.362, 2
29A.08.310, and 29A.08.123. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 29A.08.365 and 2023 c 466 s 18 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) The governor shall make a decision, in consultation with the 7
office of the secretary of state, as to whether each agency 8
identified in subsection (2) of this section shall implement 9
automatic voter registration. The final decision is at the governor's 10
sole discretion. 11
(2) This section applies to state agencies, other than the health 12
benefit exchange, providing public assistance or services to persons 13
with disabilities, designated pursuant to RCW 29A.08.310(1), that 14
collect, process, and store the following information as part of 15
providing assistance or services: 16
(a) Names; 17
(b) Traditional or nontraditional residential addresses;18
(c) Dates of birth; 19
(d) A signature attesting to the truth of the information 20
provided on the application for assistance or services; and21
S-0018.2
SENATE BILL 5077
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Valdez, Riccelli, Bateman, Frame, Hasegawa, Liias,
Nobles, and Salomon
Prefiled 12/18/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections.
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(e) Verification of citizenship information, via social security 1
administration data match or manually verified by the agency during 2
the client transaction. 3
(3) Once an agency has implemented automatic voter registration, 4
it shall continue to provide automatic voter registration unless 5
legislation is enacted that directs the agency to do otherwise.6
(4) Agencies may not begin verifying citizenship as part of an 7
agency transaction for the sole purpose of providing automatic voter 8
registration. 9
(5) The governor shall make a decision, in consultation with the 10
office of the secretary of state, as to whether state agencies that 11
collect, possess, and store the information identified in subsection 12
(2) of this section may implement automatic voter registration 13
through a procedure that substantially meets the requirements of RCW 14
29A.08.359, or as to whether state agencies that collect, possess, 15
and store the information in subsection (2)(a) through (c) of this 16
section may implement automatic updates of existing voter 17
registrations through a procedure that substantially meets the 18
requirements of RCW 29A.08.359. The governor shall make the same 19
decision, in consultation with the office of the secretary of state, 20
as to local, federal, or tribal agencies, including but not limited 21
to federal agencies administering naturalization ceremonies, provided 22
that such agencies consent to implementing automatic voter 23
registration or automatic updates of existing voter registrations. 24
The final decision is at the governor's sole discretion.25
(6) After confirming that the application for assistance or 26
services identified in subsection (2) of this section contains a 27
signature attesting to the truth of the information provided on the 28
application, the secretary of state may obtain a digital copy of the 29
applicant's signature image from the department of licensing, if 30
available, for purposes of voter registration.31
Sec. 2. RCW 29A.08.362 and 2023 c 466 s 17 are each amended to 32
read as follows: 33
(1) The health benefit exchange shall provide the following 34
information to the secretary of state's office for consenting 35
Washington healthplanfinder applicants who affirmatively indicate 36
that they are interested in registering to vote, including applicants 37
who file changes of address, who reside in Washington, are age 38
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eighteen years or older, and are verified citizens, for voter 1
registration purposes: 2
(a) Names; 3
(b) Traditional or nontraditional residential addresses;4
(c) Mailing addresses, if different from the traditional or 5
nontraditional residential address; and 6
(d) Dates of birth. 7
(2) The health benefit exchange shall consult with the secretary 8
of state's office to ensure that sufficient information is provided 9
to allow the secretary of state to obtain a digital copy of the 10
person's signature when available from the department of licensing 11
and establish other criteria and procedures that are secure and 12
compliant with federal and state voter registration and privacy laws 13
and rules. 14
(3)(a) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, the health 15
benefit exchange may provide the information identified in subsection 16
(1)(a) through (d) of this section to the secretary of state's office 17
for Washington healthplanfinder applicants, including applicants who 18
file changes of address, who reside in Washington, who are age 18 19
years or older, and whose citizenship is reliably verified through an 20
electronic database match as part of the eligibility determination 21
process, if:22
(i) The health benefit exchange sends the applicant a notice 23
within five business days of the original application informing the 24
applicant that the health benefit exchange will provide the 25
information identified in subsection (1)(a) through (d) of this 26
section to the secretary of state's office for voter registration 27
purposes unless the applicant declines; and28
(ii) The applicant does not respond to the notice identified in 29
(a)(i) of this subsection to decline to provide their information for 30
voter registration within 15 days from the date of mailing.31
(b) If the secretary of state provides voter registration data to 32
the health benefit exchange showing that an applicant has an existing 33
voter registration and the information identified in subsection 34
(1)(a) through (d) of this section shows no name change or change of 35
residence or mailing address, the health benefit exchange is not 36
required to send the notice identified in subsection (a)(i) of this 37
subsection or transmit the information identified in subsection 38
(1)(a) through (d) of this section to the secretary of state. The 39
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secretary of state may serve as the agent of the health benefit 1
exchange for purposes of this subsection. 2
(4) Upon receipt of the information through the procedure 3
identified in subsection (3) of this section, the secretary of state 4
shall implement automatic voter registration through a procedure that 5
substantially meets the requirements of RCW 29A.08.359.6
(5) If the health benefit exchange determines, in consultation 7
with the health care authority, that implementation of an automatic 8
voter registration system requires approval from the centers for 9
medicare and medicaid services, then any implementation is contingent 10
on receiving that approval. 11
Sec. 3. RCW 29A.08.310 and 2019 c 6 s 4 are each amended to read 12
as follows: 13
(1) The governor, in consultation with the secretary of state, 14
shall designate agencies to provide voter registration services in 15
compliance with federal statutes. The governor, in consultation with 16
the secretary of state, may designate local, federal, or tribal 17
agencies, including but not limited to federal agencies administering 18
naturalization ceremonies, to provide voter registration services, 19
provided that such agencies consent to providing voter registration 20
services.21
(2) A federally recognized tribe may request that the governor 22
designate one or more state facilities or state-funded facilities or 23
programs that are located on the lands of the requesting Indian tribe 24
or that are substantially engaged in providing services to Indian 25
tribes, as selected by the tribe, to provide voter registration 26
services. This provision does not alter the state's obligations under 27
the national voter registration act. 28
(3) Each state agency designated shall provide voter registration 29
services for employees and the public within each office of that 30
agency. 31
(4) The secretary of state shall design and provide a standard 32
notice informing the public of the availability of voter 33
registration, which notice shall be posted in each state agency where 34
such services are available. 35
(5) Each institution of higher education shall put in place an 36
active prompt on its course registration website, or similar website 37
that students actively and regularly use, that, if selected, will 38
link the student to the secretary of state's voter registration 39
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website. The prompt must ask the student if he or she wishes to 1
register to vote. 2
(6) If the governor, in consultation with the secretary of state, 3
designates the department of corrections to provide voter 4
registration services under this section, a county auditor shall 5
process a voter registration application from a person transmitted by 6
the department of corrections as an application to sign up to 7
register to vote. A person who signs up to register to vote under 8
this subsection is classified as pending until such time as he or she 9
will be eligible to vote in the next election. An acknowledgment 10
notice shall not be sent prior to receipt of notice from the 11
department of corrections that a person is released from, or 12
transferred to partial confinement from, total confinement under the 13
jurisdiction of the department of corrections.14
Sec. 4. RCW 29A.08.123 and 2023 c 363 s 1 are each amended to 15
read as follows: 16
(1) A person qualified to vote who has a valid:17
(a) Washington state driver's license; 18
(b) Washington state identification card; 19
(c) Washington state learner's permit; 20
(d) Current Washington tribal identification; or21
(e) Social security number, 22
may submit a voter registration application electronically on the 23
secretary of state's website, and provide either the state issued 24
identification number, the tribal identification number, or the last 25
four digits of the person's social security number.26
(2) The applicant must attest to the truth of the information 27
provided on the application and confirm the applicant's United States 28
citizenship by reviewing the registration oath online and 29
affirmatively accepting the information as true. 30
(3) For applicants using Washington state issued identification, 31
the applicant must affirmatively assent to use of the applicant's 32
driver's license or state identification card signature for voter 33
registration purposes. 34
(4) For applicants who are not using Washington state issued 35
identification, the applicant must submit a signature image by either 36
submitting a signature image to the secretary of state, or submitting 37
a signature image as part of the confirmation notice process.38
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(5) A voter registration application submitted electronically is 1
otherwise considered a registration by mail. 2
(6) For each electronic application, the secretary of state must 3
obtain a digital copy of the applicant's driver's license or state 4
identification card signature from the department of licensing, the 5
voter, or tribal identification issuing authority. 6
(7) The secretary of state may employ additional security 7
measures to ensure the accuracy and integrity of voter registration 8
applications submitted electronically. 9
(8) The secretary of state may employ an application programming 10
interface to allow a person to securely submit a voter registration 11
application electronically to the secretary of state through the 12
website of a government agency, institution of higher learning, or 13
third-party organization. In order to facilitate an electronic 14
application under this subsection, a government agency, institution 15
of higher learning, or third-party organization must be approved 16
under a process designed by the secretary of state.17
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