By The Associated Press
Published April 10th 2007 in The Oregonian
OLYMPIA -- Washington would become the second state in the country to allow online voter registration under a measure passed by the Legislature.
The measure passed the Senate on a 30-17 vote Monday. It overwhelmingly passed the House last month, and now heads to Gov. Chris Gregoire.
"This bill acknowledges that technology and times have changed," said Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland. "We do many things on the Internet today."
The measure is based on Arizona's Internet registration system, EZ Voter, which allows Arizonans to register online at a secure site maintained by ServiceArizona, the same company that runs the state's online automobile registrations.
The applications are sent daily in electronic form to county elections offices.
Only people with a Washington state driver's license or state ID would be able to register to vote online. They would have to provide their first and last names, dates of birth, addresses and driver's license or state identification numbers.
The new statewide voter-registration database that has been online since last year is connected to the state Department of Licensing, which has people's signatures and photos on file. Voters would be able to fill out an application on the secretary of state's Web site.
People of voting age who apply for drivers' licenses in Washington are offered the chance to register to vote under the federal motor-voter law, but that process doesn't capture people who get their licenses while too young to vote.
"I think that it's going to be particularly helpful for connecting with young people," said Secretary of State Sam Reed, who noted that the state already faces challenges in getting younger people to register to vote.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.