OLYMPIA, WA – It may seem obvious that a registered voter in Washington can only vote once in an election.
It’s not.
Last month, a state appeals court overturned the felony conviction of a Lewis County resident found guilty of voting twice in November 2022 — once in Washington and once in Oregon.
In a 2-1 decision, the court concluded that because there were no overlapping candidates or issues on the two ballots, these were separate elections. An election, they reasoned, refers to a choice among a specific slate of candidates or propositions, and not the process of voting on a particular day.
Lewis County prosecutors will ask the Washington Supreme Court to review the decision.
Meanwhile, lawmakers, at the behest of Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, have responded with a bill to provide a more precise definition of “election” and “same election.”
Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Battle Ground, told the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee on Tuesday that he was “flabbergasted” when he learned of what occurred.
“If you live here, you vote here. You don’t get to vote anywhere else,” said Cortes, who is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 6084.
State law prohibits a person from voting more than once in any election in the state, or voting in any election in this state and another state. The court case has stirred up questions over what exactly that means.
The Lewis County man previously lived in Oregon and received a ballot from his old address. He also received a Washington ballot. He argued that because each ballot contained a different set of issues, they should be considered two separate elections, regardless of the fact that they occurred on the same day.
In the state’s view, the ordinary meaning of an election refers to the process of voting for candidates. In other words, elections that take place on the same date constitute the same election, regardless of the slate of candidates or issues.
But in their ruling, Appeals Court Judges Bradley Maxa and Bernard Veljacic concluded that “the plain language of the statute is subject to two reasonable interpretations, making the statute ambiguous.”
Judge Linda Lee, writing in dissent, said she found no ambiguity.
Cortes’ bill would add language to existing law to spell out that “election” refers to any general, primary, or special election.
“An election is the ‘same election’ if the election date is the same, regardless of the candidates, offices, issues, or measures on the ballot and regardless of the date on which ballots are mailed or returned,” reads the bill.
The goal is to make clear that a person cannot cast more than one ballot in an election in Washington, nor vote in Washington and in another state if the election date is the same. A violation would be a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
If enacted, the bill would take effect immediately to avert issues heading into the November general election.
“We’re just trying to clarify that an election is an election,” said Brian Hatfield, legislative director for the secretary of state. “This clears up the ambiguity.”
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