Today marks the start of the 2nd half of the 2025-26 biennial period legislative session, during which the Legislature will consider enacting laws. Proposed bills that did not pass or fail on the House and Senate floors by the end of the April 2025 session continue in 2026 at the same stage of the legislative process.
This “Even Year” legislative session is considered the “Short Session” and is scheduled to last only 60 days, ending on March 12, 2026.
WA State Democrats (aka “The Anyone From Anywhere Can Vote Party”) new bill HB 2206: Adopting national standards for uniformed and overseas civilian voting, including conforming amendments to existing statute, is scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations on Tuesday, January 13 at 1:30 PM.
The proposed law mirrors a companion bill currently in the State Senate Rules Committee, SSB 5017. Either of these bills could create troubling new state voting rules pertaining to the Uniform Military and Overseas Voter Act (UMOVA) and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).
As currently written, both bills would allow people born outside the U.S. who have NEVER EVEN SET FOOT OR LIVED in WA State (aka “Permanent Overseas Voters”) to vote in ALL state and local elections.
As long as these “voters”:
• Are over 18 and a United States citizen
• Have a “family member” who is (or was) eligible to vote in Washington and
• Have not registered to vote in another state
They are allowed to vote in our LOCAL ELECTIONS. What could go wrong?
This is a ridiculous and terrible policy, as this new class of “voters” could easily have no vested interest in the state or community in which they are now allowed to vote. E.g., County Council, Commissioners, City Council, Mayors, School Boards, levies, being able to raise taxes on the locals, etc.
Additionally, with no real, valid way to prove the actual I.D. of the voter, another easy avenue for voter fraud is opened up!
Possible Collateral Impacts:
Fraudulent Use of Absentee Ballots - Requesting absentee ballots and voting without the knowledge of the actual voter, or obtaining the absentee ballot from a voter and either filling it in directly and forging the voter’s signature, or illegally telling the voter who to vote for.
Ineligible Voting - Illegal registration and voting by individuals who are not eligible to vote, including but not limited to the following:
Non-citizen Voters
Phantom Voters
Deceased Voters
Felon Voters
Minor Voters
How easy would it be for a nefarious actor to exploit this “honor” voting system to cheat in an election? Especially if they are getting paid to forge signatures and vote ballots?
Even if the vote is legal, how is it fair and proportionate if the taxes, services, and laws that affect Washingtonians are subject to the vote of those who have never lived in the state or the country?
Daily life is shaped by election outcomes and the policy decisions and legislative votes of our representatives: the taxes we pay, the housing we live in, the roads we drive on, the hospitals we visit, and the public schools our children attend. Does it meet our expectation of “Democracy” that the vote of someone who has never lived here should hold the same weight as that of a Washingtonian?
If your Mom was Irish, but you’d never set foot in Ireland, should you be able to vote for the next mayor of Dublin? Certainly not…
What if you voted for your preferred candidate for the school board, but a guy in Slovakia cancels out your vote by voting for the opposing candidate? He was born overseas to an American who spent a semester at WSU in 1988 before emigrating. How is this fair?
How do we verify that the Slovakian individual is over 18 and a US citizen? We don’t. It’s all an “honor” system. If he signs the ballot declaration attesting to his identity, the ballot must be counted. No questions allowed. How do we know if he had a “family member” eligible to vote here? We don’t; it’s an honor system. No checks are required. Hmm…
ALSO, BOTH BILLS VIOLATE THE WASHINGTON STATE CONSTITUTION - Article 6, §1 Qualifications of Electors: All persons of the age of eighteen years or over who are citizens of the United States and WHO HAVE LIVED IN THE STATE, COUNTY, AND PRECINCT thirty days immediately preceding the election at which they offer to vote.
Does the State Constitution matter to our lawmakers? It doesn’t seem so. And it is even clearer that many WA State legislators in Olympia do not truly care, as long as they remain in power…
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