Election reform package passes Senate committee

02/17/2005

Dave Ammons  Associated Press

Lawmakers pushed ahead with their promise to tackle election reform Thursday as a Senate committee passed several bills while House Republicans announced their agenda on the emotion-charged issue.

The issue of reform jumped quickly to the forefront after Democrat Christine Gregoire won the governor's race by 129 votes after a hand recount of nearly 2.9 million ballots after the Nov. 2 election.

Supporters of Republican opponent Dino Rossi have gone to court seeking to void the results, alleging widespread problems and voting irregularities. Calls for a revote came after accusations were made of illegal votes by felons and dead people, and provisional ballots that were illegally tallied without being properly checked.

Shortly after taking office, Gregoire created a task force to review the election process. The group, which has been holding public hearings around the state, will report recommendations to her and the Legislature by March 1.

Dozens of bills have been introduced in the House and the Senate since the session began Jan. 12, and a package that passed out of the Government Operations & Elections Committee Thursday could go to the Senate floor as early as next week.

The Senate package would hold the primary a month earlier so counties would have more time to get out general election ballots. It would impose statewide standards for handling ballots, require first-time voters to produce identification at the polls, require regular audits of county election departments, and require a paper trail for touch-screen voting machines like Snohomish and Yakima counties are using.

Another Senate bill would allow counties to opt for conducting their elections entirely by mail.

"People will see some very concrete things that will restore faith," said Senate elections Chairman Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup. "Overall, what we're trying to do is standardize the election procedure across the state."

Kastama said the Senate will not accept Republican proposals for re-registration of all voters, a bill that has been sponsored by the committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Pam Roach of Sumner.

Secretary of State Sam Reed said that the National Voter Registration Act prohibits the state from arbitrarily removing voters from the rolls.

In the House, Rep. Toby Nixon, R-Kirkland, offered a softer version of Roach's approach Thursday. Under his bill, which has not yet been filed, voters would not be ped from the rolls, but would be put on an inactive status, and could vote by provisional ballot until they reregister.

Neither option has much support from Democrats, who see it as a way to discourage people from participating in the process.

"I think that's a plan to deny people the right to vote," said House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle. "We ought to make sure the voter files are d, but that doesn't mean you have to take everyone off the rolls and add them back on. That seems like an administrative nightmare."

Nixon's proposal also would require voters present identification at the polls, something supported by Reed. It also require monthly checks of voter registration lists for duplicate registrations, names of felons whose rights are not restored and names of dead voters.

He also wants a revote to be held within 60 days of an election where the number of ballots cast for a measure or office exceeds the number of voters who cast a ballot.

Nixon said his legislation was a mix of the best ideas from both Democrats and Republicans.

"This embodies the best of the best ideas," he said. "We're looking for broad bipartisan support."

Reed, who introduced his election reform package last month, said that he and many lawmakers agree on several issues, like moving the primary date back, color-coding provisional ballots and verifying voter identification. He said he thought there could be strong election reform laws that both parties will be happy with, as long as both sides can compromise on their differences.

"The problem is, the devil is in the details," he said.