Yesterday, WAGOP Chairman and State Representative Jim Walsh announced that “IP26-500” - the NEW Voter ID Initiative to the People, which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in WA state, is out. Petitions are now available at most local county GOP offices and are being actively circulated for signatures.
“It’s a good reform that will ensure we keep our voter databases timely, updated, and current so people can trust the ballots going out go to actual living, breathing voters. In a state where we mail out ballots to everyone in the database, we need to make sure that the database is accurate,” says Chair Walsh, who is also the Sponsor of the initiative.
Many recent polls show voters overwhelmingly support voter ID requirements, including: Gallup 84%, Pew 83%, Rasmussen 77%, CBS 80%, and others.
Key Details on IP26-500
IP26-500 requires proof of United States citizenship to register to vote in Washington State.
For New Voter Registration Requirements: When you register to vote, your county auditor will check with the Department of Licensing to verify your citizenship through your enhanced driver’s license or identicard. If citizenship can’t be confirmed automatically, you’ll be notified and given the opportunity to provide one of the following documents:
A valid U.S. passport
A U.S. certificate of naturalization
A U.S. consular report of birth abroad
An original, certified birth certificate from a U.S. birthplace
For Currently Registered Voters: By July 1, 2027, county auditors will review existing voter registrations to confirm proof of citizenship. If yours hasn’t been verified, you will receive an initial notice, followed by a second notice 30 days before the 2027 general election. Voters who provide proof at any time will have their registration reinstated immediately.
What Counts as Proof: The most common and convenient option is a Washington State enhanced driver’s license or identicard—if you already have one, you are covered. Otherwise, a passport, a certified birth certificate, a certificate of naturalization, or a consular report of birth abroad all qualify.
New applicants who fail to meet the requirements will not be registered to vote.
Purpose: To enhance election integrity, ensure voter rolls are accurate and current, prevent non-citizen voting, align with federal executive orders, the SAVE America Act (e.g., H.R. 7296 in the House and S. 1383 in the Senate), and build public trust in elections without disenfranchising eligible voters.
What It Does: The focus is on voter registration, which covers all elections on a voter’s ballot - President, Governor, state legislature, or local school board. There is no separate registration track for federal-only voters under Washington law. The verification requirement is uniform.
Accepts multiple forms of ID as proof of citizenship to register to vote. This does not change the WA state vote-by-mail process.
This is an “Initiative to the People” in Washington, meaning that if enough signatures are collected (at least 308,911 valid registered voter signatures by July 2nd, 2026), it will be on the November 3, 2026, general election ballot.
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