Governor’s bragging over ‘double voting’ bill ignores real election problems

Published 1:30 am Monday, March 23, 2026

Last week, the current governor sent out a press release, bragging about a bill he signed into law that discourages “double voting.”

The bill, Senate Bill 6084, is fine — as far as it goes. But the press release and bragging ring hollow because the bill doesn’t go far enough to reform our elections in Washington state.

The current governor should stop patting himself on the back and acknowledge the real problems in Washington elections.

SB 6084 is drafted very narrowly to address one issue raised in the Washington state Appeals Court ruling State v. Padrta.

In that case, James Padrta — who lives in Lewis County — voted twice in the 2022 general election, in both Washington and Oregon. The Lewis County Auditor’s Office discovered Padrta’s double vote by comparing voter registration data with counterparts in Oregon. Padrta was arrested and convicted at trial. He appealed — and the State Appeals Court, in a split decision, overturned his conviction.

The State Appeals Court opinion described the facts of Padrta’s case and, in doing so, identified the real problem with election issues in Washington:

Padrta previously lived in Oregon and was registered to vote there. In July 2022, Padrta moved to Washington. Padrta obtained a Washington driver’s license, which caused him to become a registered voter in Washington. Apparently, Padrta’s registration in Oregon was not canceled. Therefore, Padrta was registered to vote in both states.

That’s the problem: Washington’s “automatic voter registration” law (also known as the “motor voter” law) creates situations in which people like Padrta can be illegally registered to vote in multiple states at the same time.

But the State Appeals Court focused on other matters:

We conclude that although the State may have the better argument, both interpretations of the term “election” in RCW 29A.84.650(1) are reasonable. … Because both interpretations are reasonable, we conclude that the term “election” is ambiguous.

We resolve the ambiguity in the meaning of “election” by adopting Padrta’s interpretation of the statute. … In addition, Padrta’s interpretation is consistent with the presumed legislative intent: to prevent a person from voting twice for the same candidate or resolution. Accordingly, we conclude that the term “election” refers to a choice among a specific slate candidates or propositions, and not to the more general process of voting on a particular day.

The dissenting opinion in that ruling makes more sense:

Padrta admitted that he voted in both Washington and Oregon in the November 2022 election. There is no dispute that the November 2022 election was a general election that is required to be held on a fixed date every year. Therefore, because Padrta voted in this state (Washington) and another state (Oregon) at an election required to be held on a fixed date recurring at regular intervals, I would hold that sufficient evidence supports Padrta’s conviction and affirm Padrta’s conviction.

Nevertheless, the majority of the judges ruled to overturn Padrta’s conviction and gave the state Legislature instructions to clarify the ambiguity in the definition of “election” in relevant state law. That’s what SB 6084 does. And that’s what the current governor bragged about signing.

However, SB 6084 doesn’t do anything to fix Washington’s “motor voter” law — which is what caused Padrta’s problems in the first place.

The United States Department of Justice has lawfully demanded that Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs share the state’s voter registration data, so that it can do more complete comparisons of registration information and voting records to determine how many people, like Padrta, are voting illegally in multiple elections.

Or are voting illegally, period.

So far, Hobbs has refused to cooperate completely with the Department of Justice’s demands. The Department of Justice has sued the State of Washington and Hobbs over the matter.

The current governor’s hollow boasts about signing SB 6084 may create a false impression of taking action to protect election integrity in Washington. But, really, those boasts just distract and divert attention away from Hobbs’ refusal to cooperate completely with the Justice Department’s lawful demands.

The current governor, Washington Secretary of State and the state Legislature should be focused on the real problem — acknowledged by the State Appeals Court in the Padrta case: Washington’s “motor voter” law creates serious problems that undermine election integrity in this state.

The current governor should stop boasting about small things and acknowledge Washington’s real election problems.

State Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, is chair of the Washington State Republican Party.