WA GOP chair wants Trump, U.S. AG Bondi to audit Washington state’s ‘motor voter law’
State Rep. Jim Walsh is paging President Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, Walsh — who also chairs the state’s Republican Party — announced that he filed House Joint Memorial 4007, which asks for a federal audit of how the state’s voter-registration laws are implemented.
Under the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993, citizens can register to vote when renewing or applying for an ID or driver’s license. In 2018, state lawmakers passed the Automatic Voter Registration Act, ensuring that eligible people getting or renewing their licenses are automatically registered to vote unless they decline.
Walsh is concerned that the current system doesn’t have strong enough guardrails to ensure that everyone added to the voter rolls is eligible to cast a ballot.
“It’s reckless the way we implement this policy in the state,” the Aberdeen Republican told McClatchy. “When we’ve asked really many times which state agency is responsible for making sure the individual is, in fact, able to register to vote — if they register to vote — DOL (the Department of Licensing) points at the secretary of state, and the secretary of state points at DOL.”
DOL spokesperson Christine Anthony noted via email that the state’s so-called “motor voter law” requires the department to verify that those applying for ID cards and driver’s licenses “meet the requirements to be a registered voter.” From there, the licensing department relays the information to the Office of the Secretary of State for confirmation and registration, she said.
“We work closely with OSOS to ensure we adhere to the laws enacted by the Legislature,” Anthony continued. “We have no comment on the proposed resolution.”
The Secretary of State’s Office did not return McClatchy’s request for comment.
According to the Washington Secretary of State’s website, automatic voter registration happens after a person shows proof of U.S. citizenship at state agencies while completing certain transactions. The site also states that the process removes hurdles to voter registration, and that only eligible citizens are enrolled.
HJM 4007, if approved by lawmakers, would be transmitted to President Trump, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi, congressional leaders and Washington’s congressional delegation. It asks the U.S. Justice Department to make recommendations for “any corrective action” it deems appropriate after an audit and review.
This isn’t the first time that Walsh has aired grievances with the state’s election system.
He previously lambasted a push by Democratic Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to counter and track the spread of election misinformation online, arguing that it amounted to political surveillance. Last year, Walsh voted against a bill imposing harsher penalties for harassment of election officials.
The Republican has also advocated for rebuffing the state’s vote-by-mail process and returning to same-day, in-person voting.
Other states have similar automatic voter registration policies, but Walsh claims that Washington’s system is among the least regulated. Asked whether he has a sense of the scope of the alleged issue, Walsh replied: “Well, no. No state agency will look at it.”
“They all point fingers at each other, and nobody’s really looked at how many people are being improperly registered to vote,” he continued. “I mean, we know it’s non-zero, but we don’t know how big it is.”
Voter turnout in Washington has generally declined, Walsh said. For instance, less than 80% of registered voters participated in the 2024 general election — down from the roughly 84% turnout four years prior.
Walsh attributes that trend to worsening confidence in the state’s elections, adding that such trust must be restored. He believes that the proposed federal review and election audit would help the Legislature move toward that aim.
Of course, Walsh’s joint memorial was introduced in a Democrat-controlled state Legislature. And the same cutoffs that apply to bills also apply to such documents, so unless House rules are changed, it won’t get a hearing.
But Walsh is betting that the White House will still get the message loud and clear.
“I am confident that the administration in D.C. and the Department of Justice will receive this message,” he said, “whether it comes off a floor vote here or not.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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