Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman testifies to Congress about elections

Washington Secretary of State
Kim Wyman

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Speaking before a U.S. House of Representatives committee Thursday morning, Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman urged Congress to bolster states’ ability to enact innovative elections access and security solutions as part of the voting reforms proposed in the H.R. 1 bill.

“I encourage you not to limit states’ authority; rather, empower them to improve election administration,” Secretary Wyman told the Committee on House Administration. 

“The greatest threat to our elections system is partisanship. The lasting solutions to removing barriers in elections have come from bipartisan efforts that balance access and security in our processes. H.R. 1 is a good place to start.”

Secretary Wyman’s full testimony at the committee’s “Our American Democracy” hearing can be viewed on the committee’s YouTube channel, and her prepared remarks can be read here.

The hearing is part of the House’s consideration of H.R. 1, a bill proposing a number of government restructuring measures including changes to how election security is administered.

“I am proud to serve as the chief elections officer for a state which currently meets most of the election requirements proposed in H.R. 1,” Secretary Wyman told the committee.

• Conducts all elections by mail with an 18-day voting period 
• Allows voters to cast a provisional ballot anywhere in the state 
• Convenes an independent Redistricting Commission 
• Passed a state Motor Voter law three years before the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) was signed by President Clinton 
• Is the second state in the country to provide online voter registration 
• Uses voter-verified, permanent paper ballots in all elections 
• Has mandatory pre and post-election audits and recounts
• Is implementing risk-limiting audits, automatic voter registration, the Future Voter preregistration program, and election day registration for the 2019 elections.