We’re pleased to announce that our first ballot initiative will be I-902, Providing Automatic Voter Registration at Qualified Voter Registration Agencies. This initiative would make it easier to register to vote in Washington State, by automatically registering anyone who isn’t on the voter rolls but who applies for (or already has) a state license or benefit that requires proof of citizenship.
I-902 is based on a bill that was introduced in the 2016 legislative session at the request of Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman, and that was co-sponsored in the House by a bipartisan group including twelve Democratic State Representatives. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by then-State Sen. Pramila Jayapal and 16 co-sponsors, but both bills died in committee in the Senate. We chose this legislation for our first initiative because it’s a simple, straightforward improvement that streamlines voter registration and makes it easier to participate in our democracy. We also chose it because we think there’ll be little opposition and voters will approve I-902 with flying colors: all we have to do is get it onto the ballot.
This initiative will not make any changes in how the state collects or reports information regarding citizenship, and in fact requires that qualified voter registration agencies transmit only information regarding U.S. citizens to the Secretary of State. (Secretary Wyman had also called for the legislature to adopt the REAL ID act, which would require proof of citizenship to obtain a standard Washington State driver’s license, but I-902 does not include any such requirement.)
Automatic voter registration has previously been enacted in Oregon, California, Vermont, West Virginia, and Alaska. Let’s put it on the ballot here in Washington!