You wanna vote? Your papers

Washington GOP proposes initiative to require proof of citizenship to vote

SPOKANE

Washington’s Republican Party is spearheading an effort to require proof of citizenship to vote. Party Chairman Jim Walsh is the primary sponsor behind a new election-related initiative to the Legislature, titled IL26-126. The proposal would require verification of citizenship for voter registration. Residents would need to establish their status as a U.S. citizen with documentation such as a valid passport or an original, certified birth certificate.

County auditors would consult the Department of Licensing to ensure that everyone on the voter list had proven their citizenship. Voters who hadn’t would receive notice to produce the proper documents, or they’d be removed from the voter rolls ahead of the 2027 general election. “We do not have a rigorous system of checking people’s citizenship status when they’re registered to vote,” said Walsh, who also represents the Aberdeen area in the state House of Representatives.

The initiative, filed May 20, is part of a coordinated regional movement that started in Oregon which aims to end vote-by-mail; advocates are calling for one-day, in-person voting. Similar pushes have been made by President Donald Trump, as well as Republicans in other states and the U.S. Congress. Supporters say reforms are needed to boost trust in the election process, but detractors cast it as a cynical attempt to install more hurdles to access the ballot box. Walsh argues that the initiative isn’t a major reform. He noted that it doesn’t alter vote-by-mail, nor does it tweak the way counties tabulate results. “All our Washington initiative does is focus on the single subject of citizenship and voter ID,” he said.

“That’s the issue.” But in the long run, Walsh’s party also wants to see the state return to in-person voting with a same-day vote count, according to a news release on WAGOP’s website. Critics decry Walsh’s initiative while defending the state’s election process. State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad said that Washington has the best elections system in the U.S. “Let’s explain some things to WAGOP’s leaders: It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in our elections,” she said in an emailed statement. “There are already safeguards and enforcement mechanisms in place to assure this does not happen.” Gov. Bob Ferguson also didn’t mince words.

“Washington state’s vote-by-mail system is convenient, safe and secure,” he said in a statement to McClatchy. “The state Republican Party wants make it more difficult for Washingtonians to exercise their right to vote. We’re not going to let that happen — we won’t let them move us backward.”

Walsh alleges that the state doesn’t have a rigorous system in place to check citizenship status when registering to vote. He cited state-run automatic voter registration programs, name-checking the Department of Licensing (DOL), which helps register folks getting their driver’s license. The state’s motor voter law, established in 1990, instructs DOL to verify that applicants for driver’s licenses and ID cards meet the conditions to be a registered voter, spokesperson Christine Anthony said via email. Upon verification, that information is sent to the Office of the Secretary of State (OSOS) for confirmation and registration.

“We work closely with OSOS to ensure both agencies adhere to the laws enacted by the Legislature,” Anthony said. “We have no comment on the proposed initiative.” While there have been cases of non-citizens voting, analysis and research indicates that it’s rare and typically done in error, according to The Associated Press. Elsewhere in the U.S., similar efforts to Walsh’s haven’t had much luck, even in Republican-run states. Voting rights advocates contend that in addition to being burdensome, proof-of-citizenship legislation would potentially disenfranchise millions of Americans. Many voters — for instance, married women — no longer have names that match the one on their original birth certificates. Plenty of others have never obtained a passport. Conrad said the overwhelm

ing majority of residents in Washington support the elections system as is. “If WAGOP has proof of non-citizens illegally voting in our elections, it is past time to put up or shut up,” she added. Walsh brushed aside Conrad’s remark as “tough-guy blather meant to get clicks.” Asked about proof of non-citizens illegally voting, he referred to a lawsuit that his party filed in Clark County about last year’s state Senate race in the 18th Legislative District. In that legal challenge, there was a 173-vote difference between the winning Democrat and losing Republican. But WAGOP claims that hundreds of ballots were counted despite being submitted by voters who’d previously moved out of the district.

“Really, the bigger issue here is: What are they afraid of?” Walsh asked. He said if non-citizens are accidentally registered to vote under the state’s automatic registration policy, it could expose them to legal repercussions. “It’s not a crime to illegally register to vote, but it is a federal crime to illegally vote. So why are we exposing illegal immigrants to that potential risk?”

To qualify an initiative to the Legislature, organizers must track down a certain number of signatures from registered voters. Last year that number was 324,516, according to the state House Republicans’ website. If certified, the initiative would get sent to the Legislature at the next regular session, as noted on the secretary of state’s website. Then lawmakers must do one of the following: Adopt the initiative as is. It becomes law without first requiring a public vote. Reject the initiative or decline to act. It is then put on the ballot at the following state general election. Offer an alternative to the proposed initiative.

The Legislature’s version and the original one would both appear on the ballot at the upcoming state general election. To bankroll the initiative push, Walsh expects to raise money in coordination with other states’ end-vote-by-mail efforts, also working with national organizations focused on election integrity. He said the state party’s work with the Let’s Go Washington political organization has proven that you don’t need $20 million to qualify an initiative. He thinks it can be done for several hundred thousand dollars. A mix of volunteer and paid signature gatherers will be used, he said. Walsh dismissed critics’ concerns that proof-of-citizenship pushes are onerous as a “spurious and unserious partisan fiction.” “I think blue voters want election integrity as much as other voters,” he said.

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