Senate approves tighter controls on sensitive voter-registration fields after floor debate

Senate Bill 5,892, presented as a Secretary of State-request measure to protect confidential fields in the voter registration database, passed the Washington State Senate on Feb. 4 following floor debate and a recorded roll call.

Sponsor Sen. Rochelle said the legislation prevents disclosure of sensitive personal information such as driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers and full birth dates by county election officials, centralizing certain requests through the Secretary of State’s office (sponsor remarks). The sponsor framed the bill as bipartisan protection for confidential information and said both current and former Secretaries of State supported the measure.

Sen. Jeff Wilson (floor) said he opposed the bill as written, arguing that its process and the proposed penalty (a class C felony for improper disclosure) were too harsh on county elections offices and that guardrails or corrections were needed. He said he would prefer working on a revised version of the bill.

Despite the opposition, the roll call recorded 29 ayes, 19 nays and 1 excused, and the Secretary announced SB 5,892 had received a constitutional majority and was declared passed. The floor record does not include subsequent amendments addressing the opponent’s concerns; implementation will involve the Secretary of State and county election offices clarifying procedures for data requests and enforcement under the statute.