House OKs part of election reform package
OLYMPIA – The House passed half of the Senate’s election reform package Wednesday night but decided to defer a vote on the three most controversial bills, including one that raises the question of whether voters need to show photo identification at the polls.
A bill requiring voting devices to produce paper records passed on a 95-1 vote. Bills that inform out-of-state, overseas and military service voters of rights and procedures and require the secretary of state to prepare a manual of election laws and rules both passed on 96-0 votes.
A vote on a bill that would mandate all-mail voting was delayed until today, as were votes on an omnibus election reform measure that would create statewide voting standards and a bill dealing with voter registration records.
“The House really has the biggest burden now,” said Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, and architect of the Senate package.
Republicans are upset that a House committee removed a photo identification requirement from one the bills that has already passed the Senate. More than two dozen amendments, most by Republicans, were offered on two of the bills, the omnibus standards bill and a record-keeping bill.
Election reform has been a hot issue this session because of the contested governor’s race, which dragged on for nearly eight weeks. Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat, won by 129 votes after a hand recount of nearly 2.9 million ballots following the Nov. 2 election.
Republican opponent Dino Rossi – who led after the first two tallies – has sued, seeking to void the results. He has alleged widespread problems and voting irregularities. A trial on his lawsuit will begin May 23 in Wenatchee.
Democrats hold a majority in both the House and Senate and can likely get their versions of the measures through the House.
A House bill that would change the primary-election date could be stymied in the Senate, however, if Republicans want to exert pressure on House Democrats. Democrats have only a 26-23 majority in the Senate, and the primary bill requires a two-thirds majority for approval. While some Republicans support changing the primary date, they killed a Senate version of that bill last month because they were upset about the defeat of GOP amendments to other bills. That bill could come to the Senate floor as early as Thursday. To meet a cutoff date, all bills must be passed out of opposite houses by Friday.
Negotiations have been going on behind the scenes on changes made by each chamber to the other’s bills, but if no agreement is reached, the bills could die before they reach Gregoire’s desk. The regular session ends April 24.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill standardizing county election procedures. It’s the first election reform bill to be passed by both houses.
The bill cleared the Senate late Tuesday on a 42-0 vote and now goes to Gregoire, who said she will sign it. It passed the House last month 95-1.
Secretary of State Sam Reed said it was important because it allows his office to “help prevent some of the problems that occurred in 2004.”
The measure calls for a review of election-related policies, procedures and practices to be conducted at least once every three years, or as often as budget and staffing levels allow.
Reed noted that the $365,000 cost for the audit was set aside in budgets released by the governor, House and Senate.
Also Wednesday, on a 56-40 vote, the House passed a bill regulating campaign funding. It provides that groups that run attack ads against a candidate two months before an election must identify their donors if more than $5,000 was spent on the ad. The measure, which was requested by the Public Disclosure Commission, passed the Senate last month on a 48-0 vote.