Voter turnout topping 70% and still rising
Prior to this November’s General Election, Secretary Reed predicted that Washington’s voter turnout would be 66 percent of the state’s 3.6 million registered voters. Days after the election, we updated that forecast by saying that the statewide turnout could reach 70 percent.
The revised prediction came true late Tuesday, as turnout reached 70.04 percent. As of late Wednesday afternoon, the voter turnout stands at 70.36 percent, with over 2.5 million ballots counted. Go here to see county-by-county voter turnout figures.
We’re still a little short of the 71.15 percent mark established in 1958 and the 71.85 percent plateau reached in 1970.
Counties have to certify their General Election results by November 23.
2 thoughts on “Voter turnout topping 70% and still rising”
I am sorry to post OT, but I would like to request that someone at the SoS’s office post an update on the Doe v. Reed litigation. I understand that discovery should have wrapped up by now and that there was a status conference before the judge. If you could let us readers know where things stand, it would be greatly appreciated.
Hi David – Our Communications Director, Dave Ammons, provided the following info to the media today about Doe v. Reed:
FYI: Foes of Washington’s new “everything but marriage” domestic partnership law have received a May 31 trial date in U.S. District Court in Tacoma as they seek a permanent ban on releasing the names of 138,000 people who signed Referendum 71 petitions last year. Judge Benjamin Settle is continuing a temporary release ban while the litigation proceeds.
Meanwhile, initiative activist Tim Eyman and James Bopp Jr., the attorney for Protect Marriage Washington, have dropped their lawsuit in Thurston County Superior Court broadly challenging the state’s practice of releasing petitions to those who request them through the state’s voter-approved Public Records Act. Judge Christine Pomeroy signed the dismissal “without prejudice,” meaning it can be re-filed at a later date. Eyman had been expected to base his challenge on state constitutional grounds.
Secretary of State Sam Reed said he’s pleased that the Eyman-Bopp case has been dismissed, and that he is optimistic that the state’s policy of openness in legislating, including citizen legislating, will be upheld when the federal “as-applied” challenge is decided in the coming year.
“We strongly support our voters’ decision almost 40 years ago to adopt Initiative 276, which gave us our Open Records Act and a clear policy of disclosing the identities of those who participate in campaigns, lobbying and taking part in `citizen legislating’ via initiative and referendum,” he said. “There is broad public support for this sensible policy. People of Washington expect transparency and accountability in their government, and the U.S. Supreme Court has said that, as general proposition, release of petitions does not violate our constitutional freedoms.”
– Brian Zylstra, Deputy Communications Director
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