This bill authorizes the Washington secretary of state to negotiate and enter state-tribal compacts to allow automatic voter registration of members of federally recognized tribes whose traditional lands included parts of Washington. It creates new statutory sections requiring the secretary of state to adopt an application and approval process, procedures, timelines, and rules (to be established within six months after July 1, 2025), allows tribes to initiate compacts by governing-body resolution and requires a government-to-government meeting within 90 days of a tribe’s application. Once a compact is executed, the tribe may provide specified applicant data to the secretary of state for automated registration; required data elements listed include information already required under RCW 29A.08.010, name, traditional or nontraditional residence address, mailing address if different, date of birth, proof of U.S. citizenship, any other information the secretary requires, and a signature image. Registrants processed under the tribal compact are marked as automatic voter registrants. The bill amends existing law in chapter 29A.08 RCW (adding new sections and modifying RCW 29A.08.110 and RCW 29A.08.370) and makes multiple procedural changes: it specifies that the registration date for automatic registrations is the date an election official receives the information, sets auditor duties for recording precinct/taxing district and registration date and for sending acknowledgment and verification notices, and sets timing rules (for department of licensing AVR and tribal AVR an acknowledgment package must be sent within five business days or within five business days after the election if received after the deadline; for other voters an acknowledgment within 60 days). It establishes procedures for incomplete applications (auditors must mail verification notices and applicants have 45 days to supply missing information to preserve the original registration date), allows auditors to use email/phone/text for communication but not to replace required mailings, and specifies how acknowledgments and applicant declines are handled (a timely decline within 15 days leads to removal as if never registered; later declines require cancellation). The bill also amends removal procedures for ineligible registrations: if an ineligible person is registered through the automatic processes without a knowing violation, that registration is deemed an authorized act and not evidence of a claim to citizenship, the registration and records must be removed, the secretary of state and a relevant agency must jointly determine cause, and intentional registration of ineligible persons by certain government employees is subject to penalties under RCW 29A.84.110. Affected parties identified include the Office of the Secretary of State, county auditors, federally recognized tribes with historical ties to Washington, the Department of Licensing (as an existing AVR source), the state voter registration list, and an unspecified “relevant agency.” Important details are not included in the extracted text: the bill references several existing RCW provisions whose full text is not provided; it does not define “traditional or nontraditional residence address,” does not specify what “other information” the secretary may require, and does not identify the relevant agency that will jointly determine causes of ineligible registrations or the specific content of the rules and technical procedures the secretary must adopt.

If enacted, the law would let the Secretary of State make formal agreements with federally recognized tribes so tribes can automatically register their members to vote by sending required personal and citizenship documents to state election officials. Practically, that means the Secretary of State must create an approval process and rules within a set timeframe, tribes will need to collect and transmit specific data (including proof of U.S. citizenship and a signature image) if they want to participate, and county auditors must treat those incoming records as automatic registrations, send fast acknowledgment notices (often within five business days), handle verification for incomplete records, and remove or cancel registrations when people decline or are found ineligible. The most affected parties are the Secretary of State (new rulemaking, convening government-to-government meetings, and processing duties), participating tribes (responsibility and likely staff time to assemble and send required information), and county auditors (increased processing and mailing workloads on accelerated timelines). This will probably raise administrative costs and workload for state and county election offices and require operational changes by tribes; there is a risk of inadvertent registrations that must be removed and jointly investigated with an unspecified “relevant agency,” and intentional improper registrations by government employees carry penalties. Several important details are not provided here, including exact additional data the secretary may require, what “traditional or nontraditional residence address” means, which agency will partner on ineligibility determinations, and the specific procedural rules the secretary must adopt.