(The Center Square) – Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh wants the federal government to look into the accuracy of Washington’s voter registration system.
Walsh, who also serves as a representative from Aberdeen in the Legislature, has introduced House Joint Memorial 4007, calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to audit and review the accuracy of Washington’s “implementation of the ‘Motor Voter Law,’ with a focus on possible violations of the United States Constitution, the United States Code, the Constitution of the state of Washington, or the Revised Code of Washington.”
Per the federal “Motor Voter Act,” citizens are automatically registered to vote when they apply for or renew their driver’s license or state identification. In 2018, Washington’s law was expanded via the Automatic Voter Registration Act, requiring that several state agencies, including DOL, automatically register eligible individuals unless they opt out.
“Nobody takes responsibility for making sure that registered voters are actual citizens and otherwise legal voters,” Walsh told The Center Square. “No one does and you press the Department of Licensing, and you press the Secretary of State, and they end up pointing fingers at each other.”
The lawmaker contends DOL is registering people to vote without proof they are legal citizens.
“You go to the Department of Licensing to get a driver’s license or a non-driving piece of ID, and you produce some sort of document that says who you are and where you live,” Walsh continued. “It does not have to be a birth certificate. You fill out the form. You take the test, and if you pass the driver’s test or, in the case of an identity card, you fill out the form, and you are automatically registered to vote. They believe that to ask if someone is a legal citizen is somehow discriminatory, which is just nuts.”
Walsh contends DOL doesn’t have a firm number when it comes to how many noncitizens it believes are registered voters.
“We believe that the number is in the tens of thousands,” he said, “but we really have no idea what the real number is.”
The Secretary of State’s AVR website contends that automatic registration is a good thing: “Many people forget to register or update their information in time for an election. With AVR, voters don’t have to worry about remembering registration deadlines or submitting an application.”
DOL Communications Manager Christine Anthony responded via email to a request for comment about HJM 4007.
“Beyond the title, there isn’t any bill language on the legislative website for us to review, and we generally don’t comment on legislation that hasn’t passed through the legislative process and been signed into law by the Governor,” Anthony said.
“Mostly what we want to see is the Department of Justice come and investigate the operations of the Department of Licensing here in Washington,” Walsh said. “It could be the FBI or some other division. I don’t really care who it is, but we want to get someone with an outside set of eyes to come examine this office.”
HJM 4007 also requests that the U.S. Department of Justice provide recommendations for corrective actions to bring Washington’s voter registration system into full compliance with the law if any issues are identified.
