![Washington Governor Jay Inslee signs a bill into law that restricts public access to election records and centralizes requests with the Secretary of State's office, claiming it will enhance election security, but critics argue it diminishes transparency and trust.](https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Large_Clark-County-Today-Clark-County-Elections-Ballot-Box-01-1.jpg)
Senate Bill 5459 exempts cast ballots from public records requests as well as centralizes all local records requests with the Secretary of State’s office
TJ Martinell
The Center Square Washington
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed Senate Bill 5459 into law, which restricts the public from obtaining records regarding ballots and the election system, as well as centralizes all local records requests with the Secretary of State’s office.
At the May 9 bill signing, Inslee said the bill would help the state “better protect our election security” by withholding information from the public that would “increase risk to the integrity of elections.”
The bill exempts cast ballots from public records requests. Although not specifically among the 500 other exemptions under the Public Records Act, or PRA, courts had previously ruled against their release.
Inslee said this exemption “protects the privacy of all registered voters, keeping our elections safe and secure. [I’m] glad we’re a state that cares about these matters.”
SB 5459 will also centralize all public records requests submitted to the county auditor with SOS if the request concerns the statewide voter registration database. The SOS maintains that database.
Also exempt from public access are any records of the system infrastructure for at least 25 years if the contractor says releasing the records would put the system at risk.
The bill passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, with just four senators opposed. However, the House vote was along party lines. Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, tweeted that they “had a long discussion about this in caucus and came away strongly opposed.”
In a separate tweet, he described the legislation as “terrible,” adding that the strong support in the opposite chamber was because “[the] Senate may have believed ‘it’ll prevent insurrection’ rhetoric. Or maybe ‘it’s just protecting proprietary code’ rhetoric. If you read the bill, you can see it’s more likely to CAUSE insurrection.”
Also opposed to the bill is Washington Coalition for Open Government President Emeritus Toby Nixon, who also sits on the Kirkland City Council. In an email to The Center Square speaking for himself and not WCOG, Nixon described the bill as “a huge overreaction to public records requests made by Trump supporters after the 2020 election, who had been convinced that there was fraud. There is NO legitimate reason for any of this information to be secret. There is only the fear of election officials of the amount of work it takes to produce the records.”
“In my opinion, this rush to hide even more of how elections are conducted just reduces trust,” he wrote. “Transparency is important. If it were up to me, our elections would be more transparent, not less.”
WCOG President Mike Fancher did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. The Washington Association of County Auditors also did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.
Also read:
- Harvest Days in Battle Ground coming up July 19-21The Battle Ground Festivals Association is preparing for three days of celebration, including a car cruise on Friday night, a parade on Saturday, and fireworks on Saturday night at Harvest Days.
- Organizers looking for cars for Cruise to the Shoug show on Aug. 454-40 Brewing Co. is hosting Cruise to the Shoug on Aug. 4 as a fundraiser for the Camas-Washougal Community Chest, and organizers are looking for car owners to book their spots for the show.
- Trump picks Ohio’s J.D. Vance for vice presidentFormer President Donald Trump picked U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, to serve as his vice president should Trump beat President Joe Biden this November for another term in the White House.
- Children with disabilities make memories at the 24th annual Merwin Day of FishingOn Saturday (July 13), Pacific Power and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife joined together to host a memorable fishing event for children with disabilities at the Merwin Fish Hatchery near Woodland.
- Letter: For the public record and the Comprehensive PlanIn a July 12 letter to the Clark County Council, Clark County Citizens United President Susan Rasmussen shares that primary stakeholders were ignored in the Wetland and Habitat Ordinance Conservation Covenant.
- CASE DISMISSED: Classified documents case against Trump thrown out by judgeA federal judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents-related criminal case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, saying the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith violated the Constitution.
- Photos: Log show and parade at Territorial Days 2024 in AmboyTerritorial Days in Amboy never disappoints, and this weekend brought all kinds of activities in logging country, and Clark County Today had a photographer there to capture images from the annual parade and log show.