The state Senate had already passed a bill that makes it easier for counties to switch to all-mail elections, but the House, which originally had the same language, went a step further Tuesday. An amended version of the bill mandates that the entire state switch to absentee voting by 2008. The measure passed on a 58-38 vote after vigorous debate.

Proponents say that in a state where about 70 percent of voters already vote by mail, it doesn't make sense for counties to spend money to rent poll sites, pay poll workers or worry about hundreds of voting machines.

"It saves money," said Rep. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia. "It gives a verifiable signature, it gives a statewide ballot that all appears the same, and county auditors overwhelming support vote by mail."

But some lawmakers argued that many voters enjoy going to the polls.

"I'm not interested in limiting people's right to vote by mail. I think the absentee ballot is a great option," said Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee. "I'm not interested in telling people that that's the only mechanism they have to vote."

Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, expressed doubt Tuesday that the House bill would survive the Senate floor in its current form. But he expressed support for the other bills the House passed, especially the overwhelming passage of a bill that moves the primary date to the third Tuesday in August.

The House passed that measure on a 95-1 vote, and it now goes to the Senate, where a similar bill Kastama tried to get through died last Friday night.

"I'm very impressed with what the House did," Kastama said.

Kastama said moving the primary is one of the most important things to be done on election reform. Secretary of State Sam Reed has said the move is crucial to allow officials more time to handle any recounts and make preparations for the general election, including sending ballots to military and overseas voters.

"For the sake of our men and women in uniform, for the quality voting process people deserve, I urge the Senate to pass this bill," Reed said in a written statement.

Reed also took his campaign to promote voting by mail to Seattle on Tuesday, where Oregon's secretary of state, Bill Bradbury,joined him at a news conference in support of the option of counties switching to all-absentee voting. Oregon made the switch in 1998.

Reed was neutral on the amended mail ballot version that moved out of the House, but said he "could live with it," said spokeswoman Trova Heffernan.

Washington state law already allows a county auditor to designate a precinct as mail ballot-only if it has fewer than 200 active registered voters. The Senate measure says there would be no state mandate, instead each county council or board of commissioners would ultimately make the decision.

Ferry, Okanogan, Clallam and Skamania counties already have all-mail voting and Whatcom and Mason counties are making the switch. Other counties have indicated they want to study mail-only ballots.

On a 95-1 vote, the House also passed a measure that calls for a review of election-related policies, procedures and practices to be conducted at least once every three years, or as often as budget and staffing levels allow.

Election reform has been a hot issue this session because of the contested governor's race, which dragged on for nearly eight weeks. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat, won by 129 votes after a hand recount of nearly 2.9 million ballots following the Nov. 2 election.

Republican opponent Dino Rossi - who led after the first two tallies - has sued, seeking to void the results. He has alleged widespread problems and voting irregularities. Calls for a revote came after accusations were made of illegal votes by felons and dead people, and provisional ballots that were illegally tallied without being properly checked. A judge has ruled the case can move forward, but said he would not order a revote.

Last week, the Senate passed a bill that would allow voter records to be randomly investigated and require election officials to check the citizenship of each new applicant. Other election reform-related bills that have passed the Senate include a bill that would impose statewide standards for handling ballots, require regular audits of county election departments, and require voters to show identification at the polls, with either a government-issued photo identification such as a driver's license or a voter registration card. Provisional ballots would have to look different than regular ballots and could not be tabulated with regular ballots.

The mail-in voting bill is House Bill 1754, the primary date bill is House Bill 2027 and the procedures bill is House Bill 1749.