Robert Edelman v. Secretary of State Sam Reed
Secretary of State Reed has allowed 16 and 17-year-olds to register to vote, violating the state constitution and federal laws that require him to ensure the state voter roll contains only legal voters.

Summary
EFF researcher Robert Edelman found more than 16,000 registrations by people who would not have been 18 by the next election, as the Washington Constitution requires for eligibility to vote. The registrations occurred between January 2000 and March 2008. Voter records show that 108 of these individuals unlawfully voted 127 ballots over the same time period, including four votes in the February 19, 2008 presidential primary.

According to emails from staff and database records, the Secretary of State knows that county auditors accept registration applications from underage voters, and he knows that there are underage voters on the voter roll. But Secretary Reed has not set up the state voter database to reject these applications, nor has he acted to keep the counties from entering them in the first place. The Help America Vote Act requires states to have only eligible voters on their voter rolls.

In addition, Secretary Reed has condoned the unlawful practice of auditors accepting voter registration forms from underage applicants, some as young as 16, and holding them in a drawer for months until the voter is 18. Not only is such a practice in conflict with federal and state laws that require “expedited” processing of registrations, but it is a very subjective practice that is highly subject to human error, and it certainly has not lived up to its stated purpose of preventing illegal voting by underage voters.

Status
EFF filed its complaint with the Secretary of State’s office on June 13, 2008. An administrative law judge dismissed the complaint on August 20. EFF filed a request for administrative review of the decision. Director of Elections Nixon Handy upheld the initial decision on September 12, 2008. EFF filed a petition for judicial review in Thurston County Superior Court, and Judge Anne Hirsch upheld the agency ruling on October 23, 2009.  EFF filed an appeal to the Court of Appeals on November 17, 2009.

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