Connecticut, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota are currently exploring the idea. If adopted, Washington would be the first in the nation to make voting mandatory. Supporting the bill were King County Elections and the Latino Community Fund. Kearny and others said they wished the state would return to in-person voting. “Forcing our communities to vote only aggravates the problem, making us feel part of a system set on harvesting our votes illegally,” Kearny said. She described her family’s experience of distrusting the verification of their ballots in 2020. Still, people took issue.Įl’ona Kearny, ex-Army intelligence officer, current candidate for governor and resident of Seattle, spoke against the bill. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle, prime sponsor, emphasized the test would not affect big elections. Hatfield said the bill would also address voting challenges faced by disabled persons and in general make voting more accessible. “We understand certain communities of voters have ballots rejected at higher rates,” Brian Hatfield of the SOS’s office, said. The Secretary of State (SOS) would be required to submit results in 2028. If approved, the test would be conducted over the next four years. County auditors can opt into this and suggest other forms of verification to test, but participation is not required. It sets up a pilot project to test other options for ballot verification other than signatures. Hunt emphasized that ballots would go only to eligible voters who were registered.Īlongside the civic-duty voting bill is a voter verification bill, Senate Bill 6269. They worried uninformed people would not take it seriously, that illegal immigrants might be able to vote, that blank ballots could somehow be manipulated or that the process could encourage “ballot harvesting.” People who opposed mandatory voting expressed a number of broad criticisms. This was primarily put in place to address concerns of people not wanting to vote for any candidates or initiatives on a ballot. They do not have to choose a candidate or fill anything in. County auditors would be in charge of reviewing waivers.Īlso, registered voters may return a blank ballot. If eligible voters do not wish to register to vote, they can submit a waiver without any excuse or explanation. SB5209 requires all eligible voters to register to vote and return their ballots, with two main exceptions. The proposal was introduced last year but died in committee. Hunt is supporting a bill to make voting mandatory. “Conservative Ladies of Washington, they’ve got these mass emails asking people to sign up.” “The election deniers have ramped up this year,” Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, said. Lawmakers mainly dismissed the large number of people signing on to testify, as they believe one organization was responsible. “We are already in a moment of extreme distrust in elections, so you should not be doing anything to further that perception,” Sharon Damoff said. A proposal to make voting mandatory drew criticisms from 2,000 people in a Washington state Legislative hearing Jan.
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