Senate backs election reform
OLYMPIA – The state Senate passed two key bills in an extensive election reform package Saturday, giving Gov. Christine Gregoire most of the measures she wanted to see implemented in the wake of her contested win.
A continued sticking point on the floor debate was how voters should identify themselves at the polls. Most Republicans want voters to be required to show photo ID. One of the bills that passed allows the option of a utility bill or voter registration card. That measure, creating statewide voting standards, passed on a 30-19 vote. Another bill enhancing voter registration record-keeping passed on a 30-18 vote. The House passed both bills Friday on 97-1 votes.
Republicans in the Senate, however, weren’t as accepting.
“Photo ID is what the people of the state of Washington wanted,” said Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, the ranking Republican on the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee.
But many argued that not everyone has photo ID, especially the poor or elderly.
“Let’s not err on the side of exclusion,” said Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle. “I know you don’t want to exclude people from the polls.”
The two bills would also streamline voter databases, allowing the secretary of state to screen for felons, those who have declined to serve on juries because they are not U.S. citizens or those who have been found legally incompetent to vote. The bills require mail and absentee ballots to be visually distinguishable from other ballots and make voting more than once a felony.
The changes will take place this summer, 90 days after the legislative session is scheduled to end Sunday.
“Our mission in January was to cut through all of the hyperbole, all of the feelings that were out there after this election and put forward real, meaningful election reform,” said Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup and the main architect of the election reform package. “I think we did that.”
Four Republicans did cross over to vote with Democrats on each bill. Sens. Brad Benson of Spokane, Bob Oke of Port Orchard and Dave Schmidt of Mill Creek voted yes on both. Sen. Joseph Zarelli of Ridgefield voted yes on the statewide standards bill; Sen. Dan Swecker of Rochester voted yes on the record-keeping bill.
Benson said he had the same concerns as much of his caucus, but “as an overall picture, it’s a positive step.”
“We’ll be working on this the next few years,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll ever completely stop looking at (election reform). There’s a lot of room for improvement.”
The bills now go to Gregoire, who said she will sign them.
“There is no system that’s going to be perfect,” Gregoire said Friday night after the House vote. “But we need to take steps – like what we’re seeing in all of these bills – to do everything we can when a problem comes up, to get it addressed, to reaffirm to the public that they should have confidence in the election system.”
The bills were among several introduced this session in response to the governor’s race that saw Democrat Gregoire win by 129 votes after a hand recount of nearly 2.9 million ballots.