Approval of Voting Systems. Under current law, any voting systems, devices, or vote tallying systems, prior to use in an election, must be approved by the secretary of state, unless approved by statute before March 22, 1982. Any modification, change, or improvement that does not impair its accuracy, efficiency, or capacity to extend its function, may be made without reexamination or reapproval by the secretary of state. 

Detection and Disclosure of Security Breaches. A manufacturer or distributor of a voting system that has been certified by the secretary of state must immediately disclose a security breach to both the secretary of state and attorney general, if:

• the breach has, or is reasonably likely to have, comprised the security, confidentiality, or integrity of an election in any state; or
• personal information of residents of any state was, or is reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person.

County Cybersecurity. Each county must install and maintain an intrusion detection system that passively monitors its network for malicious traffic 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year by a qualified and trained security team with access to cyberincident response personnel. The system must support the unique security requirements of state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and possess the ability to receive cyberintelligent threat updates to stay ahead of evolving attack patterns. A county auditor or information technology (IT) director of a county participating in the shared voter registration system operated by the secretary of state, or using a voting system or component of a voting system that is certified by the secretary of state, must immediately disclose to both the secretary of state and attorney general any malicious activity or security breaches of any of its IT systems, if:

• malicious activity was detected by an IT intrusion detection system (IDS), malicious domain blocking and reporting system, or endpoint security software; 
• a breach has, or is likely to have compromised the security, confidentiality, or integrity of election systems or IT systems, or compromised the security, confidentiality, or integrity of an election within the state; or
• personal information of residents was, or is reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person.

Approval of Equipment and Platforms. In addition to voting systems, devices, and vote tallying systems, the secretary of state must approve mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment or platforms including software, firmware, or hardware that is used to provide voter assistance. This includes platforms used in issuing ballots, facilitating voters' response to a required notice, to provide electronic means for submission of a ballot declaration signature, to issue, authenticate, or validate voter identification, and any component of a voting system that the secretary of state determines requires prior approval before use. Upon review, the secretary of state may determine that a modification, change, or improvement required of any voting system or component of a system does not require a full reexamination or reapproval by the secretary of state.

Disclosure of Security Breaches. An organization contracted to provide support to, or a manufacturer or distributer of, the voter registration database system or the official voter list, must immediately disclose any security breach of the system to the secretary of state and attorney general if:

• the breach has, or is reasonably likely to have compromised the security, confidentiality, or integrity of an election; or
• personal information of residents of any state was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person due to the breach. 

County Cybersecurity. Every county auditor must implement the following cybersecurity measures by July 1, 2027:

• use of the .gov top-level domain available through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
• partitioning the entire auditor's office, including all its IT systems and assets, or specifically partitioning election and voting IT infrastructure from other county assets;
• isolation of all ballot counting equipment and voting systems components from any other network;
• prohibiting configuration of voting systems to establish a connection to an external network or device external to the voting system;
• purchase of voting systems that include documentation listing security configurations and network security best practices, and adherence to said practices; and
• restricting all data transfers from any voting system to using single-use, previously erased devices that contain no information prior to connection with the system. Devices used for data transfer must be provided by the secretary of state to the county auditor for single use, or the media must be overwritten by the county auditor following rules established by the secretary of state. 

The secretary of state must consult with county auditors on which systems and assets need to be partitioned or technologically isolated and protected. The secretary of state may extend the July 1, 2027 deadline for a county auditor to comply with partitioning requirements if more time is necessary for implementation. 

The committee recommended a different version of the bill than what was heard. PRO: We are seeing more attacks on our network and we want to continue to build trust in our voting system. This provides us surveillance on our voting systems to detect and determine if data breaches have impacted our data. In addition to the security enhancements adopting the .gov domain would provide, it is also a way to reinforce credibility and trust, which is paramount to the integrity of our elections in Washington State. The Secretary of State's Office has provided up to $80,000 per county per fiscal year to support election security enhancements, so that will cover much of the cost of this bill. The network segmentation will reduce the risk of compromise and make it a lot harder for adversaries to access critical data and systems. These are effective and common sense measures to protect the integrity of Washington's elections and instill public trust.