Washington Administrative Code

(1) All county auditors and the secretary of state shall furnish to the public on request forms that allow a registered voter to challenge the registration of another voter pursuant to RCW 29A.08.810 through 29A.08.850. The secretary of state must make the form available on its w…

The secretary of state and each county auditor must conduct voter registration list maintenance, process online voter registrations, motor voter registrations and agency-based registrations, and update registrations according to procedures and instructions in the statewide voter …

(1) Pursuant to the provisions of RCW 29A.08.710, 29A.08.720 and 29A.08.740, the auditor or secretary must furnish to any person, upon request, the current list of registered voters at actual reproduction cost. The auditor or secretary may also provide a list of canceled voters. …

The auditor or secretary may require each person who requests a list of registered voters under the authority of RCW 29A.08.720 and WAC 434-324-130 to sign a request which includes penalty requirements as set forth in RCW 29A.08.720 and 29A.08.740.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04…

The secretary and each county must retain the voter registration records according to a retention schedule approved by the state or local records committee and promulgated by the archives division of the secretary's office. On an annual basis, the secretary must copy all voter re…

The secretary must maintain disaster recovery and security plans for the voter registration database. A copy of the plans must be stored offsite. Both plans are exempt from public disclosure pursuant to RCW 42.56.420.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 09-18-098, § 434-324-…

If a seal is missing or broken without authority, all subsequent steps taken must be documented and included in a report to the canvassing board.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 06-14-050, § 434-335-005, filed 6/28/06, effective 7/29/06.]

All voting systems, voting devices, and vote tallying systems must meet applicable federal standards and be certified and approved by the secretary of state before they can be used in Washington state pursuant to RCW 29A.12.020.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 07-12-032,…

The voting systems review board may review voting systems for certification and make recommendations to the secretary of state based upon those reviews. The voting systems review board consists of five members, and may include independent experts in computer science or informatio…

Any person or corporation (applicant) owning or representing a voting system or a vote tabulating system, part of a system, equipment, materials or procedure may apply in writing to the secretary of state for certification.(1) The application must include, but is not limited to, …

(1) No voting device or its component software may be certified by the secretary of state unless it:(a) Secures to the voter secrecy in the act of voting;(b) Permits the voter to vote for any person for any office and upon any measure that he or she has the right to vote for;(c) …

Upon receipt of an application, the secretary of state examines the application for completeness. If the application is not complete, the secretary of state must notify the applicant in writing of the information required to complete the application. Notification must occur withi…

Secretary of state staff will initiate an examination of the applicant's equipment after receiving a completed application and a working model of the equipment, documentation, and software to be reviewed.The examination verifies that the system or equipment meets all applicable f…

The vendor shall provide a working model of the equipment under review for the duration of the examination.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 08-05-120, § 434-335-070, filed 2/19/08, effective 3/21/08; WSR 05-18-022, § 434-335-070, filed 8/29/05, effective 9/29/05.]

The voting systems review board evaluation must include, but is not limited to:(1) A review of statutory requirements;(2) A review of applicable federal standards;(3) A review of the approved qualification test results released directly to the secretary of state by the federally …

The voting systems review board must conduct a public hearing, scheduled at the convenience of the secretary of state and voting systems review board. At the public hearing, the applicant may demonstrate the equipment and explain its function. The applicant must be available to a…

Following the review and public hearing, the voting systems review board may recommend for or against certification of the voting system under review. The board may also recommend that certification be contingent upon fulfillment of specific conditions or procedures with the purc…

Certification of a voting system may be contingent upon fulfillment of additional conditions or procedures.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 05-18-022, § 434-335-120, filed 8/29/05, effective 9/29/05.]

Based on the examination of the voting system and the recommendations of the secretary of state staff and the voting systems review board, the secretary of state may issue a certification of the system if the secretary of state determines that the system meets all requirements fo…

If the secretary of state determines that the voting system fails to meet any of the requirements for certification, the applicant must be notified and allowed thirty days to submit another version of the voting system for examination and testing.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.…

After a voting system is certified, any improvements or changes to the system must be submitted to the secretary of state for certification. The secretary of state will determine if the modifications require state testing and a review board hearing, or if the changes may be certi…

The secretary of state may approve an application for modification of certified equipment administratively if the modification does not:(1) Materially affect the lawful conduct, accuracy, efficiency, capacity or security of elections;(2) Materially and adversely affect the conven…

The application to certify a modification of an existing certified system must include, but is not limited to, the following information:(1) Description of the applicant;(2) Description of the equipment or software under review, the modification, and all version numbers;(3) All c…

If the system, or its components, is found to be sufficiently modified under the guidelines of WAC 434-335-160 that it requires an examination of the equipment by the voting systems review board and a public hearing, the secretary of state must notify the applicant in writing tha…

No modification, change, or other alteration to voting or vote tabulating system, equipment, or component may be installed in a county between June 15th and November 30th of the same year without permission from the secretary of state. Such permission must be specific to the chan…

A county auditor may apply in writing to the secretary of state for emergency approval of a modification of an existing certified system. The application must include a complete description of the modification that is required and an explanation of why failure to modify the syste…

Emergency approval for a modification of an existing voting or vote tabulating system or equipment may be obtained from the secretary of state if failure to modify the system could materially affect the lawful conduct, efficiency, accuracy, or security of an upcoming election.If,…

The secretary of state must notify all county auditors of the emergency approval within five days of approving the application. Such notice shall also be posted to a public forum such as the secretary of state's website.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 09-03-110, § 434-3…

Pursuant to WAC 434-335-150, the applicant must submit to the secretary of state a modification that incorporates a permanent fix to the problem covered by the emergency approval. The modification must be submitted in time to be approved under the normal modification application …

Any of the following decisions entered pursuant to this chapter are final decisions of the secretary of state as to which no further review by the agency is available, subject to judicial review pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW:(1) The issuance or denial of certification pursuant to…

Whenever a county auditor acquires a new system or an upgrade to an existing system that has been certified by the secretary of state, the county must perform acceptance tests of the equipment before it may be used to count votes at any election. The equipment must operate correc…

The Election Assistance Commission standards concerning voting systems and software escrow are hereby included by reference, except where otherwise modified by these rules and the Revised Code of Washington.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 09-12-078, § 434-335-250, filed…

(1) The secretary of state may decertify a voting system or vote tabulating system or any component thereof and withdraw authority for its future use or sale in Washington if, at any time after certification the secretary of state determines that:(a) The system or component fails…

As used in this chapter, "official logic and accuracy test" means the test performed in accordance with RCW 29A.12.130.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 14-06-040, § 434-335-270, filed 2/26/14, effective 3/29/14; WSR 08-05-120, § 434-335-270, filed 2/19/08, effective 3/21…

The county auditor must pretest all programming and tabulation equipment to be used in the primary or election prior to the official logic and accuracy test.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 14-06-040, § 434-335-275, filed 2/26/14, effective 3/29/14.]

The county must provide adequate personnel to properly operate the ballot tabulation system. Whenever possible, the system shall be operated during the test by the same person or persons who will be responsible for operating the system on election day. The official logic and accu…

The official logic and accuracy test must be observed by at least one representative of each major political party, if representatives have been appointed by the parties and are present at the test. The party observers must be instructed as election observers by the county audito…

At least three days before each state primary or general election, the office of the secretary of state shall observe the official logic and accuracy test of the vote tabulation system prepared by the county auditor. The test must verify that the system will correctly count the v…

If the official logic and accuracy test cannot be completed at the scheduled time and place, an emergency test must be scheduled by the county auditor. The emergency test must be conducted and properly completed prior to processing any official ballots through the vote tabulation…

The office of the secretary of state must contact each county auditor at least forty-five days before a state primary or general election to schedule the official logic and accuracy test. After the test has been scheduled, the county auditor shall notify the parties, press, publi…

(1) Each county shall prepare a matrix of the test pattern used to mark the test deck of ballots for the official logic and accuracy test. The matrix shall consist of a spreadsheet listing the number of votes cast for each candidate and responses for and against each measure in e…

A county auditor may file an exception request with the secretary of state to modify the test pattern provided in WAC 434-335-323. The county auditor must provide a description of the modification in detail, a sample test matrix, and the reasons for an exception. The exception re…

(1) The official logic and accuracy test shall be certified by the county auditor or deputy, the secretary of state representative, and any political party observers for a state primary or general election in accordance with RCW 29A.12.130. Additionally, the county auditor must v…

For a primary or election that is not a state primary or election, the county auditor must conduct the official logic and accuracy test in the same manner as though it is a state primary or election.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 14-06-040, § 434-335-335, filed 2/26/14…

"Calibration" is the touch screen setting on an accessible voting unit with touch screen capability that controls the target area."Direct recording electronic device" is a device that electronically records a voter's choices."Electronic ballot marker" is a device that physically …

(1) The logic and accuracy test of accessible voting units must be completed before they may be used for marking or casting ballots. Counties must complete the testing to have in-person accessible voting available starting eighteen days before the day of a primary or election.(2)…

Prior to each state primary and election, the calibration settings of each device using touch screen technology must be tested to ensure that the target areas are functioning within system standards.[Statutory Authority: RCW 29A.04.611. WSR 08-05-120, § 434-335-540, filed 2/19/08…