Washington AI laws for political campaigns

Yes. Washington's 2023 law (ESSB 5152, first codified at RCW 42.62 and recodified as RCW 29B.35.010 to 29B.35.030 on January 1, 2026) lets a candidate whose appearance, action, or speech is altered by synthetic media in an electioneering communication sue the sponsor for an injunction and damages, with attorney fees to the prevailing party. Including the statutory disclosure is an affirmative defense, so the practical rule is: label it or risk a lawsuit. There are no fines or criminal penalties, and the plaintiff must prove synthetic media by clear and convincing evidence. Since June 2024, Public Disclosure Commission rules also require committees to report synthetic media use, the AI vendor, and audience targeting on their expenditure reports. Key law (ESSB 5152 (2023), Laws of 2023 ch. 360, RCW 29B.35.010 to 29B.35.030 (formerly RCW 42.62.020 to 42.62.040; recodified by Laws of 2024 ch. 164 effective Jan. 1, 2026)).

ESSB 5152 (2023), Laws of 2023 ch. 360, RCW 29B.35.010 to 29B.35.030 (formerly RCW 42.62.020 to 42.62.040; recodified by Laws of 2024 ch. 164 effective Jan. 1, 2026) requires: "This (image/video/audio) has been manipulated" Format: Visual media: text easily readable by the average viewer and no smaller than the largest font size of other text in the media (or easily readable if there is no other text); for video, shown for the full duration. Audio only: read in a clearly spoken manner and a pitch easily heard by the average listener, at the beginning and end, and every two minutes or less if longer than two minutes.

Civil: General or special damages against the sponsor, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs to the prevailing party. The statute says it is not a violation of the campaign finance chapter and does not authorize PDC enforcement. Private lawsuits: The depicted candidate may sue the sponsor for injunctive or other equitable relief and for general or special damages.

Electioneering communications only: broadcast, cable, satellite, radio, digital communication, mail, billboard, newspaper, or periodical ads that clearly identify a state, local, or judicial candidate, are distributed within 60 days before that candidate's election, and cost $1,000 or more (RCW 29B.10.220). It covers Images, audio recordings, and video recordings of an individual's appearance, speech, or conduct intentionally manipulated with generative adversarial network techniques or other digital technology to create a realistic but false depiction that a reasonable person would believe is real and that gives a fundamentally different impression than the unaltered original.

Washington has no AI-specific rule for political calls and no ban on political robocalls: its automatic dialing and announcing device ban (RCW 80.36.400) covers only commercial solicitation. Political calls are still political advertising, so the sponsor must be clearly identified or spoken on telephone ads (WAC 390-18-010). If a paid call uses an AI clone of a real person's voice, it is "synthetic media": the expenditure report must name the AI vendor (WAC 390-16-037(3)), and if the call is an electioneering communication the spoken "This audio has been manipulated." defense applies. Under federal law, the FCC ruled in February 2024 that AI-generated voices are "artificial" voices under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so prerecorded or AI voice calls to cell phones need prior express consent, and every such call must identify the caller at the start.

Yes. PDC rulemaking (WSR 24-12-019; WSR 26-01-209), Campaign finance disclosure of AI and synthetic media: Committees must list synthetic media use, the AI or software vendor, the ad seller, and audience targeting on expenditure and independent expenditure (C-6) reports, and commercial advertisers must keep records of any AI technology they provided to make synthetic media for political ads, open to public inspection. Synthetic media disclaimers are in addition to normal sponsor identification. SHB 1205 (2025), Laws of 2025 ch. 51, Knowing distribution of a forged digital likeness: General criminal law, not election-specific: knowingly distributing a forged digital likeness (a digitally created or altered image or voice recording of an identifiable person, indistinguishable from the real thing and likely to deceive) as genuine, with intent to defraud, harass, threaten, or intimidate or for another unlawful purpose, is criminal impersonation in the second degree, a gross misdemeanor. It can reach malicious deepfakes of candidates or election officials, but it expressly does not reach content of political, newsworthy, or public interest, including commentary, satire, and parody.

This tracker counts 5 Washington AI laws touching politics and elections as of October 5, 2026: 1 on elections, 2 on AI or artificial voice calls, 2 on voting and election officials.

HB 1442 (2023 to 2024) (Defining synthetic media in campaigns for elective office (House companion to SB 5152)): Dead, Jan. 2024 (superseded by enacted SB 5152).