wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 1146 > Substitute Bill
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Jail" has the same meaning as in RCW 70.48.020.
"People who are hospitalized" means people who are detained or residing at state hospitals.
"People who are incarcerated" means people who are detained in a jail.
"State hospital" has the same meaning as in RCW 72.23.010.
The legislature recognizes that it is the duty of the county auditor to conduct elections, and it is the duty of the jails and state hospitals to reasonably eliminate barriers to voting for people who are incarcerated or hospitalized and to enable people who are incarcerated or hospitalized to exercise their rights consistent with community standards as is reasonable under the circumstances.
Each county auditor's office must designate one employee to serve as the county voting coordinator for both jails and state hospitals.
Each jail must designate one employee as the jail voting coordinator for the jail.
Each state hospital must designate one employee as the state hospital voting coordinator.
Each county auditor must create a voting plan for each jail and state hospital within the county. The plan must be created jointly with the jail voting coordinator at each jail or the state hospital voting coordinator at each state hospital, and in consultation with the office of the secretary of state. The voting plan must be jointly adopted by the county auditor and the jail or state hospital. The initial plan must be adopted by January 1, 2026, and plans must be reviewed and readopted at least every two years. If the county auditor and a jail or state hospital cannot jointly agree on adopting a plan at least 90 days prior to a primary, the secretary of state shall assign a temporary plan until a plan is jointly adopted.
The voting plan must include, at a minimum, details about how the jail or state hospital will help people who are incarcerated or hospitalized to:
Register to vote or update their voter registration information and provide notice that the voter registration application and any address provided on it is a public record and subject to disclosure laws;
Access proof of their identification or residency as may be necessary to register to vote;
Access information about, and materials necessary for, eligibility for voting and voting rights restoration;
Access nonpartisan information about candidates and other voter education materials, including the relevant voters' pamphlets and other nongovernmental voting-related materials;
Access the necessary writing materials to fill out ballots; and
Complete their ballots privately with dignity and autonomy.
The voting plans must also include, at a minimum, details about how the jail or state hospital and the county auditor will:
Provide visible information regarding registering to vote and accessing a ballot for people who are incarcerated or hospitalized;
Ensure that all people who are incarcerated or hospitalized are made aware of key dates for registering to vote and returning a ballot;
Establish a process by which voter registration and ballot return data is collected as allowable by state and federal privacy laws;
Establish a process by which voting-related requests and complaints made by people who are incarcerated or hospitalized are documented and properly considered;
Accommodate people with disabilities to register to vote and fill out ballots, including the use of accessible voting devices provided and maintained by the county auditor as required under the help America vote act; and
Provide training and resources to help employees of jails and state hospitals understand how to support individuals with disabilities to cast an independent vote.
At the exclusive discretion of the jail, election officials from the county auditor's office and the secretary of state's office are subject to standard local jail clearance processes, may be reasonably limited on the duration, times, and days permitted to be inside the jail, may be reasonably excluded from accessing certain areas of the jail, and may be required to be escorted through the facility.
Jails and state hospitals must provide people who are incarcerated or hospitalized with access to voter registration information, state and local voters' pamphlet information produced pursuant to chapter 29A.32 RCW, and ballots in accordance with their voting plan developed under section 4 of this act. Ballots must be made accessible to registered voters starting at least eight days before a primary, special, or general election.
Jails and state hospitals must permit election officials from the county auditor's office and staff from the secretary of state's office to enter the jail or state hospital at least 30 days in advance of each election in order to provide voter registration outreach and education to people who are incarcerated or hospitalized. Election officials are subject to standard local jail or state hospital clearance and scheduling processes that are reflective of the entity's privacy and confidentiality requirements as well as operational, clinical, and security needs.
Jails and state hospitals must treat election-related mail from the county auditor or secretary of state or election-related mail sent by people who are incarcerated or hospitalized as legal mail with all of the associated protections and rights.
Jails and state hospitals must provide information about, and materials necessary for, registering to vote to all people who are released from the jail's or hospital's custody at the time of their release.
Jails and state hospitals must document all voting-related requests and complaints made by people who are incarcerated that are addressed to the county auditor as provided in the jointly created voting plan pursuant to section 4 of this act.
Data collected under subsection (5) of this section must be reported to the relevant county auditor and to the secretary of state. The secretary of state must publicly report this data annually.
Nothing in this chapter may be interpreted as requiring a jail or state hospital to jeopardize the operational, clinical, or security needs of the jail or state hospital.
Beginning July 31, 2030, as a matter of state interest and public concern under RCW 43.10.030(1), the attorney general may investigate and bring an action against a county, jail, or state hospital for violations of this chapter. In the discretion of the court, the attorney general may recover the costs of the action including reasonable attorneys' fees if the attorney general prevails in the action.
The attorney general's power under this section includes the authority to:
Investigate violations under subsection (1) of this section on its own initiative or in response to a complaint;
Issue written civil investigative demands for documents and oral testimony, and answers to written interrogatories; and
Institute civil actions in the courts.
If the court finds that a county, jail, or state hospital intentionally violated a provision of this act, the court shall award $25,000 per violation to the attorney general.
Money collected by the attorney general under subsection (3) of this section shall be remitted to the secretary of state to use to increase accessibility for voters in jails and state hospitals.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the secretary of state must enter into an agreement with the University of Washington Evans school of public policy and governance for the purpose of examining the processes associated with providing voter registration, voting materials, and voting assistance to people who are incarcerated in jails and state hospitals throughout the state. The study should identify challenges and make recommendations to ensure that election offices, jails, and state hospitals are able to provide all registered voters and eligible citizens in jail or in a state hospital with voter registration and voting assistance prior to each election. The Evans school must submit a final report, in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, to the governor, secretary of state, and the appropriate committees of the legislature by June 30, 2026.