Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

The Washington State Legislature enacted several pro-voter policies this past session. The initiatives touched on everything from protecting election workers from harassment to guarding elections against cybersecurity attacks, to ensuring voters receive adequate notice when there’s an issue with their ballot. The state also implemented a new secure automatic voter registration system (SAVR) that became law last year. Unfortunately, the Legislature failed to pass legislation that would allow for consolidation of election for local governments. Because of their continued expansion of voting rights, Washington once again received an A on their progress report.

Looking Back

Where Washington Started at the Beginning of 2024

• Automatic Voter Registration: Secure AVR
• Online Voter Registration: OVR+
• Same-Day Registration: Yes
• Restoration of Rights: Prison Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: Vote by Mail
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: Yes
• Early Voting Opportunities: Regular Ballot Early Voting
• ID Requirements: ID Requested, but not Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Washington as of 2024, we considered the state a top tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2024 activity against other top tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 2nd
• EPI Score (2022): 14th
• CLC State Scorecard (2022): 10/10
• MAP Democracy Rating (2024): HIGH

2024: This Past Year

Legislative Action

This past year, the Legislature continued to pass legislation to make elections both more accessible to voters and more secure.

• HB 1241 allows election workers and their families to join the address confidentiality program and creates new criminal penalties for harassing election officials or their staff.
• HB 1962 allows voters that move counties within the state to have their voter information transferred easily between counties by having the county auditor in the old county notify the voter’s new county auditor of the move.
• SB 5890 requires county auditors to reach out to voters that need to cure mail ballots by phone, text, or email, in addition to just via mail. It also requires the secretary of state to create statewide standards for mail ballot signature review. The bill also encourages the secretary of state to create voter registration forms with multiple signature boxes to allow voters to provide a variety of signature samples for comparison purposes.
• SB 6269 establishes a pilot project for counties to try out new ballot verification processes beyond the established signature match verification process.
• SB 5843 authorizes the secretary of state to certify election results in any county if the canvassing board refuses to do so. The bill also includes several security measures to protect the state’s elections from cyber attacks.

• SB 5723 provided local governments the authority to move their elections to even years.The bill advanced out of the Senate State Government Committee but was not brought to the floor for a vote.
• HB 1932 was the House version of the election consolidation legislation, providing local governments the authorities to move their general elections to even years. The bill passed out of the House with Democrats generally supporting, but failed to move out of the Senate after it stalled in the budget committee.

Implementation Action

• Washington successfully launched its upgrade to Secure AVR in July 2024, bringing their system in line with national best practices and streamlining the process for individuals with an enhanced driver’s license. The secretary of state also implemented reforms to their online voter registration system to allow individuals to register without a driver’s license by using the last four digits of their SSN.