---
type: "Bill"
title: "Concerning security breaches of election systems or election data including by foreign entities."
description: "Concerning security breaches of election systems or election data including by foreign entities."
jurisdiction: "us/states/wa"
legislature: "Washington Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "HB 1251"
citation: "Washington HB 1251 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ELECTIONS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Tarleton"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 36
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-01-17"
last_action: "2020-03-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/48b98ff0-76c2-4be1-8f83-59493aaa26e7"
source_url: "http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1251&year=2019"
source_hash: "87ceff462e66c497a4cc949569198745fde3b55e115c9ecafbca51d82df63c91"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wa"]
---

# Washington HB 1251 (2019-2020) — Concerning security breaches of election systems or election data including by foreign entities.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1251.htm)
2. **Substitute Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/Biennium/2019-20/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1251-S.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#39) — **44–0** (pass) · upper
- Final Passage (#32) — **95–0** (pass) · lower
- Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#8) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#1) — **95–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Tarleton — primary (person)
- Hudgins — cosponsor (person)
- Wylie — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-01-17** First reading, referred to State Government & Tribal Relations. `reading-1`
- **2019-02-19** SGOV - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-21** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2019-03-06** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2019-03-08** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-02-19** SGOV - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass. `passage`
- **2019-02-21** Referred to Rules 2 Review.
- **2019-03-06** Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.
- **2019-03-08** 1st substitute bill substituted. `substitution`
- **2019-03-08** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2019-03-08** Third reading, passed; yeas, 95; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 3. `reading-3`
- **2019-03-11** First reading, referred to State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2019-04-28** By resolution, returned to House Rules Committee for third reading.
- **2020-01-13** By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- **2020-01-28** Placed on third reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-01-30** Third reading, passed; yeas, 95; nays, 1; absent, 0; excused, 2. `reading-3`
- **2020-02-03** First reading, referred to State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections. `reading-1`
- **2020-02-21** SGTE - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).
- **2020-02-24** Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- **2020-03-04** Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.
- **2020-03-04** Committee amendment(s) adopted with no other amendments.
- **2020-03-04** Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.
- **2020-03-04** Third reading, passed; yeas, 44; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 5. `reading-3`
- **2020-03-07** House concurred in Senate amendments.
- **2020-03-07** Passed final passage; yeas, 97; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 1. `passage`
- **2020-03-09** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-10** President signed. `passage`
- **2020-03-11** Delivered to Governor.
- **2020-03-25** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-25** Chapter 101, 2020 Laws. `became-law`
- **2020-03-25** Effective date 6/11/2020. `became-law`
- **2019-02-12T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 01:30 PM
- **2019-02-19T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations at 01:30 PM
- **2019-03-20T12:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections at 08:00 AM
- **2020-02-13T13:00:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections at 08:00 AM
- **2020-02-21T18:30:00+00:00** Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections at 01:30 PM

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/48b98ff0-76c2-4be1-8f83-59493aaa26e7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Washington legislature records).