Online voting among election reform proposals

OLYMPIA – Secretary of State Sam Reed has announced a package of election reforms he’ll be taking to the Legislature once the new session starts today.

Reed wants the state to offer online voting for military and overseas voters and to require all mail-in ballots be returned by Election Day rather than postmarked by that date.

“Our elections laws in Washington are always a work in progress as we try our very best to assure fair, accurate and secure elections and ever-expanding opportunities and education for our voters,” Reed said in a statement.

David Ammons, a spokesman for Reed’s office, said it likely would be a couple of years before online voting was ready, and then it would be offered as a pilot project in a few counties, but that ultimately it could be an option for all Washington voters.

“We’re not there yet,” he said. That’s why we’re proposing it as a first step possibly by having a defined group of people with a clearly secured method of voting.”

The bill that would require ballots to arrive by election day is intended to speed up the counting process so voters get results more quickly, Ammons said.

“A big piece of (the delay) is because a big bag full of ballots keeps arriving all week long,” he said.

He said voters want results sooner, but that means county officials need the ballots sooner.

Reed also is proposing new language defining political parties to avoid situations such as one recent candidate declaring a preference for the “Salmon Yoga Party.”

The bill would define major parties – Democratic and Republican – and create a process for petitioning to create a minor party. Candidates could list one of those parties, or no party, as their preference when they file for office.

Current rules allow candidates to designate their own party preference rather than selecting from a pre-defined list.