Browsed by
Tag: Secretary of State Kim Wyman

Washington sets a record with National Voter Registration Day 2018

Washington sets a record with National Voter Registration Day 2018

Since 2012, elections officials across America have made National Voter Registration Day an annual focal point of public-awareness campaigns to get more eligible citizens to register to vote. In Washington, as in other states, the effort has concentrated largely on getting young adults to sign up as registered voters. This demographic is targeted for two key reasons: First, the U.S. Census Bureau regularly finds that young people who are eligible to vote are registered at much lower rates than citizens in older…

Read More Read More

Video voters’ guide now available

Video voters’ guide now available

In partnership with TVW, the Office of Secretary of State is proud to present a new Video Voters Guide to help voters make informed decisions in the 2018 Primary and General Elections. At the Video Voters Guide, which the Yakima Herald-Republic calls “must-see TV for (the) 2018 election,” viewers can watch unedited candidate statements for the four statewide races on this year’s ballots — three Washington state Supreme Court justice positions and a seat in the United States Senate. Twenty…

Read More Read More

Student Voter registration challenge 2018

Student Voter registration challenge 2018

To encourage as many young adults as possible to make their voices heard in the 2018 General Election, Secretary of State Kim Wyman and Gov. Jay Inslee have launched a special Student Voter Registration Challenge to sign up Washington’s college students as new voters. As Gov. Inslee’s office describes here, the Student Voter Registration Challenge is a competition open to students at all 40 of Washington’s public universities, community colleges, and technical colleges. Student teams must register by Aug. 1 to…

Read More Read More

Watch the Letters About Literature 2018 Awards Ceremony

Watch the Letters About Literature 2018 Awards Ceremony

For the past 13 years, the Washington State Library has sponsored a contest called Letters About Literature. The straightforward contest asks students in grades 4-12 to write a letter to an author about how his or her book changed their view of the world or themselves. We wrote a little about the contest earlier in the year. Each year when the letters written by Washington students arrive, we read them and cannot believe the depth of feeling and insight contained in…

Read More Read More

Presidential Primary bill will encourage more voter participation, says Wyman

Presidential Primary bill will encourage more voter participation, says Wyman

It’s time for Washington to move its Presidential Primary earlier in the year so the state has a more relevant role in choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees, Secretary of State Kim Wyman told a House panel. Wyman testified Wednesday afternoon before the House State Government, Elections and Information Technology Committee on Senate Bill 5333, a bipartisan proposal prime-sponsored by Sen. Mark Miloscia, chair of the Senate State Government Committee. The Senate passed the measure 34-15 earlier this session. The…

Read More Read More

From the WA State Digital Archives: 1939 bill-signing photo

From the WA State Digital Archives: 1939 bill-signing photo

Gov. Clarence Martin signs a bill into law in 1939 as Secretary of State Belle Reeves (seated on left) and female legislators watch. (Photo courtesy of Washington State Digital Archives) We’ve reached that point of the legislative session when Gov. Jay Inslee starts signing bills into law. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing a Washington State Digital Archives photograph from 1939 that depicts a bill-signing ceremony. This shot shows Gov. Clarence Martin signing into law House Bill 300,…

Read More Read More

WA state politics forum draws crowd

WA state politics forum draws crowd

Secretary Wyman (left) with Cornell Clayton, Todd Donovan, Sen. Hans Zeiger, Maria Chavez and Nicholas Lovrich after the forum ended.  A panel discussion on the state of politics in our Washington attracted a standing-room-only crowd at a public forum Friday on the Capitol Campus. The public forum was co-hosted by the Office of Secretary of State and Washington State University’s Foley Institute. The symposium included a panel discussion on the latest developments in Washington state politics, including the state’s political…

Read More Read More

OSOS legislative package includes Presidential Primary date change, other election reforms

OSOS legislative package includes Presidential Primary date change, other election reforms

Secretary of State Kim Wyman is proposing a date change for Washington’s Presidential Primary, as well as other reforms of the state’s elections system as part of her package of requested bills to the Legislature this year. Wyman is asking legislators to make a few modifications to the state’s Presidential Primary, including moving its date from the fourth Tuesday in May to the second Tuesday in March. “The lateness of Washington’s Presidential Primary last year made it clear that we…

Read More Read More

Wyman begins second term as Washington Secretary of State

Wyman begins second term as Washington Secretary of State

Secretary Wyman with former Secretaries of State Sam Reed (left) and Ralph Munro at her ceremonial swearing-in. (Photo courtesy of Laura Mott) Kim Wyman began her second term as Washington’s 15th Secretary of State after being sworn into office before a joint legislative session Wednesday. Wyman took the oath of office from Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu shortly after noon on Wednesday, receiving cheers at a joint session of the House and Senate when she was called up to the…

Read More Read More

Gov. Inslee & Secretary Wyman certify 2016 election

Gov. Inslee & Secretary Wyman certify 2016 election

Secretary Wyman and Gov. Inslee certify the 2016 General Election returns. (Photos courtesy of Patrick McDonald) Secretary of State Kim Wyman and Gov. Jay Inslee have certified the returns for the 2016 General Election, including a record number of ballot measures and hotly contested races from the White House to local offices. The election drew record voter registrations of nearly 4.3 million and the most ballots ever counted in the state, over 3.36 million.  The turnout was nearly 79 percent,…

Read More Read More