National voter reg. day

AN ACT Relating to celebrating national voter registration day; 1
amending RCW 28A.230.150; adding a new section to chapter 28A.230 2
RCW; and creating a new section. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature recognizes the importance 5
of fostering lifelong civic engagement and that there is an 6
opportunity to align Washington state with the national voter 7
registration day celebrations and activities, both benefiting 8
teachers and improving the civic engagement of high school students. 9
The legislature further recognizes that moving some activities from 10
January 16th to the third Tuesday in September allows for teachers to 11
incorporate civic education lessons and voter registration activities 12
closer to the November general election. Therefore, the legislature 13
intends to align Washington state with national civic engagement 14
activities by celebrating national voter registration day.15
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.230 16
RCW to read as follows: 17
(1) On the third Tuesday of September of each year, or the 18
following Tuesday if the third Tuesday of September falls on a major 19
Z-0557.2
SENATE BILL 6130
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Krishnadasan, Bateman, Conway, Cortes, Dhingra, Hunt,
Liias, Nobles, Orwall, Riccelli, Saldaña, Slatter, and Valdez; by
request of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Read first time 01/14/26. Referred to Committee on Early Learning &
K-12 Education.
p. 1 SB 6130
religious holiday, each public high school shall observe "National 1
Voter Registration Day." 2
(2) Each year on "National Voter Registration Day," or within a 3
two-week period before or after that date to accommodate school 4
schedules, public high schools must, as resources allow, coordinate a 5
voter registration event in each history or social studies class 6
attended by high school seniors and when possible high school 7
students in other grades. This event is part of the future voter 8
program. Teachers must make voter sign up and registration available 9
to all students. 10
(3) County auditors may, as resources allow, help coordinate 11
elements of the future voter program, and participate in voter 12
registration events for students on "National Voter Registration 13
Day." 14
(4) On each "National Voter Registration Day" all students 16 15
years of age or older will be given the opportunity to register to 16
vote or sign up to register to vote online in the classroom as part 17
of the future voter program. Paper registration forms must also be 18
made available in the classroom. Students who cannot use the online 19
registration must be provided a paper registration form. The event 20
must include adequate time for students to complete the registration 21
process in class. 22
(5) The superintendent of public instruction, in consultation 23
with the secretary of state, must update and distribute youth voter 24
registration materials annually for eligible students to register to 25
vote at school. Electronic notification of the availability of the 26
materials must be distributed to high school principals and secondary 27
social studies and history teachers. 28
(6) The superintendent of public instruction must consult with 29
the secretary of state to provide registration methods that enable 30
the electronic collection of information on the number of students 31
who registered to vote on "National Voter Registration Day," with the 32
goal of achieving at least 50,000 new voter registrations for high 33
school students annually. 34
(7) Each year the superintendent of public instruction must 35
report on yearly progress toward the goal established in subsection 36
(6) of this section, including the number of high school students 37
registered to vote by county and recommendations for increasing youth 38
voter registration, to the governor and the appropriate standing 39
committees of the legislature in accordance with RCW 43.01.036.40
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(8) For the purposes of this section: 1
(a) "Future voter program" refers to the information that may be 2
collected by a number of processes about a future voter. Information 3
about a future voter that is otherwise disclosable under chapter 4
29A.08 RCW is subject to RCW 29A.08.725. 5
(b) "Sign up" means the act of providing information relevant to 6
eventual official voter registration, prior to such time that the 7
student will be 18 years of age by the next election.8
Sec. 3. RCW 28A.230.150 and 2018 c 109 s 3 are each amended to 9
read as follows: 10
(1) On January 16th of each year or the preceding Friday when 11
January 16th falls on a nonschool day, there shall be observed within 12
each public school "Temperance and Good Citizenship Day." Annually 13
the state superintendent of public instruction shall duly prepare and 14
publish for circulation among the teachers of the state a program for 15
use on such day embodying topics pertinent thereto and may from year 16
to year designate particular laws for special observance.17
(2) Each year on "Temperance and Good Citizenship Day," ((social 18
studies teachers )) public high schools must, as resources allow, 19
coordinate a voter registration event in each history or social 20
studies class attended by high school seniors in alignment with 21
section 2 of this act. The primary focus of these events must be to 22
support eligible students who missed the opportunity to become future 23
voters or registered voters on "National Voter Registration Day" 24
earlier in the school year . ((This event is part of the future voter 25
program. Teachers must make voter sign up and registration available 26
to all students.27
(3) County auditors may, as resources allow, help coordinate 28
elements of the future voter program, and participate in voter 29
registration events for students on "Temperance and Good Citizenship 30
Day."31
(4) On each temperance and good citizenship day all students who 32
will be eighteen years of age or older by the time of the next 33
general election will be given the opportunity to register to vote 34
online in the classroom. Paper registration must also be made 35
available in the classroom. Students who do not possess a state 36
identicard or driver's license must be provided a paper registration 37
form. The event must include adequate time for students to complete 38
the registration process in class.39
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(5) The superintendent of public instruction, in consultation 1
with the secretary of state, must update and distribute youth voter 2
registration materials annually, by December 1st, for eligible 3
students to register to vote at school. Electronic notification of 4
the availability of the materials must be distributed to high school 5
principals and secondary social studies and history teachers.6
(6) The superintendent of public instruction must consult with 7
the secretary of state to provide registration methods that enable 8
the electronic collection of information on the number of students 9
who registered to vote on "Temperance and Good Citizenship Day," with 10
the goal of achieving at least fifty thousand new voter registrations 11
for seventeen and eighteen year olds annually, beginning in January 12
2020.13
(7) Beginning March 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, the 14
superintendent of public instruction must report on yearly progress 15
toward the goal established in subsection (5) of this section, 16
including the number of seventeen and eighteen year olds registered 17
to vote by county and recommendations for increasing youth voter 18
registration, to the governor and the appropriate standing committees 19
of the legislature in accordance with RCW 43.01.036.20
(8) For the purposes of this section:21
(a) "Future voter program" refers to the information that may be 22
collected by a number of processes about a future voter. Information 23
that is otherwise disclosable under chapter 29A.08 RCW cannot be 24
disclosed on the future voter until the person reaches age eighteen, 25
except for the purpose of processing and delivering ballots.26
(b) "Sign up" means the act of providing information relevant to 27
eventual official voter registration, prior to such time that he or 28
she will be eighteen years of age by the next election.))29
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