On biggest stage, same-day voter registration performs well in Pierce County
Tuesday was the first big experiment of same-day voter registration since Gov. Jay Inslee signed it into law in 2018. Not everyone was convinced it could work. It divided legislators in Olympia, who voted according to strict party lines; Republicans contended the state’s election software needed to be upgraded first. “This is going to put us in a place where we are open to fraud,” warned Rep. Morgan Irwin, R-Enumclaw.
Indeed, it’s one thing to enact a slew of ambitious laws that increase voter participation; it’s another thing to make sure they’re enacted smoothly.
We’re happy to report that in spite of a record election turnout and a COVID-19 pandemic, the same-day processing went according to plan, according to Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson.
And Washingtonians can now proudly say they’ve caught up with other states, including several Republican strongholds — Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Iowa.
There’s no doubt the same-day process boosted voter participation as business was brisk at the Pierce County Election Center on Tuesday. A total of 2,187 people showed up to cast a ballot, of whom 998 also registered, indicating a massive demand for a process Anderson says is “here to stay.”
From 7 a.m. until the county Election Center closed at 8 p.m., the stream of cars remained steady. Some folks, like Taneika Tigner, waited for almost two hours, but as Tigner told us, “It was worth it. You can’t complain if you don’t vote.”
The one-stop voting center in Tacoma also made it possible for voters to stay socially distanced in their cars.
Anderson told us the same-day registration process typically takes only five to 10 minutes, thanks to a new layered defense system provided by Washington’s voter registration and election management, also known as VoteWa.gov.
The upgrade should put to rest any fears of voting fraud. Elections officials had the off-year 2019 election to work out kinks. And as Anderson told us, county auditors have real-time visibility across the state so that scofflaw voters can’t get past the cyber safeguards.
Someone in Kitsap County can’t come to Pierce County and get a duplicate ballot; however, the state’s “universal voting” law does allow a resident from another county to vote in Pierce County if they haven’t voted somewhere else.
It’s not uncommon during presidential elections for voters to make last-minute decisions to vote. That’s why, in addition to the Election Center, Pierce County libraries played a crucial role. Library staff at all county branches stood by on Election Day to print ballots and assist new voters with registration. Anderson credits these libraries for being “central partners to a vibrant democracy.”
Of course procrastinators weren’t the only ones to come out on Election Day. Many voters braved the long lines for historic reasons. As first-time voter Larissa Castillo, 19, told us, “I wanted to remember this day. I wanted to be part of the crowd.”
We may not all agree on which candidates should have won in the 2020 election, but we can applaud the integrity and ease of our state’s election system.
Washington is fortunate to have vote-by-mail, automatic registration through the Department of Licensing and the WA Health Exchange, pre-registration for 16-17 year olds and same-day voter registration.
All of these reforms have positioned our state as a national leader when it comes to easy and equitable access to democracy.