This bill (H-3427.1 Substitute House Bill 2262) amends existing law to add a new curricular requirement and new elections reporting duties. It amends RCW 28A.230.094 to require that the mandatory one-half credit high school civics course, beginning with or before the 2027-28 school year, include instruction in producing a legible, repeatable official cursive signature and how signatures are used by election officials; the instruction may teach a personalized handwritten signature or a mark that aligns with a student’s primary language or culture, must include a historical civics overview of signature practices and exclusions, may be developed with the secretary of state and county auditors under the outreach plan in RCW 29A.60.168, and explicitly cannot be used to require a student to produce such a signature as a condition of earning the civics credit. The bill also amends RCW 29A.60.300 to require the secretary of state, every odd-numbered year, to conduct and publish a statewide survey of ballot rejection rates and reasons (including signature mismatch rates by voter age groupings), analyze county and statewide averages and practices, provide recommendations to minimize rejections and promote standardization, and compare results with national data; it requires annual elections reports to include numbers and rates of ballots rejected for signature mismatch by age groups and to provide these reports to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for inclusion on its civic education website. Affected entities named include OSPI, the secretary of state, county auditors, canvassing boards, the Washington State Association of County Auditors, and a designated 501(c)(3) voter outreach nonprofit; OSPI was previously directed to post civics materials in collaboration with partners by September 1, 2020. The text provided omits the full language of the referenced RCW sections (RCW 28A.230.005, RCW 28A.150.211, and RCW 29A.60.168) and does not specify the detailed content, format, assessment methods, implementation procedures, timelines beyond those listed, or any funding or administrative mechanisms for carrying out these new requirements.

If enacted, high schools will need to add instruction on making a legible, repeatable handwritten signature (or culturally aligned mark) into the required half‑credit civics course by the 2027‑28 school year. That will shift some curriculum time and likely require OSPI, school districts and teachers to develop or adopt new lesson materials and coordinate with the secretary of state and county auditors; students cannot be forced to produce a signature to get the civics credit, but teaching time, teacher training, and resource development are likely new responsibilities and modest costs for districts and OSPI. The secretary of state will also have an ongoing reporting duty: every odd‑numbered year it must publish county and statewide analyses of ballot rejection rates and reasons, including signature mismatch by voter age groups, and include recommendations to reduce rejections and standardize practices; annual elections reports must likewise break out signature‑mismatch rejections by age and be shared with OSPI. That will increase data collection and analysis work for the secretary of state and require county auditors and canvassing boards to provide consistent data; it could prompt changes in county verification practices or voter outreach to reduce rejections, but the bill does not specify funding, exact curricula, assessment methods, or details of the required outreach plan.