Browsed by
Tag: Vote-by-mail

Paving the Vote-By-Mail Path

Paving the Vote-By-Mail Path

As we celebrate the centennial of women’s suffrage in the United States, it has become apparent that Washington state has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to voting rights and processes, and others have benefitted from seeing us set the pace and disprove false perceptions. Over the last few decades, utilization and preference for Vote-By-Mail (VBM) elections has substantially increased to the point where in 2018 general elections across the country, over 31 million voters, or 25.8%…

Read More Read More

WA 2013 election underway this week

WA 2013 election underway this week

Washington’s general Election Day used to be just that, a single day in November.  Today, it’s an election season of nearly three weeks — and the 2013 edition gets underway this week. Starting Wednesday, Oct. 16, ballots are being mailed to over 3.9 million registered voters — a near-record.  Voters may fill out their ballots right away or hold off awhile. Although election officials recommend returning ballots promptly, the voter does face a Nov. 5 deadline to have their ballot…

Read More Read More

WA voters pick their Primary favorites

WA voters pick their Primary favorites

Washington voters have narrowed the field for the General Election, including the hotly contested race for Seattle Mayor, three special state Senate races and literally hundreds of important local offices. By Wednesday midday, counties had tallied over 660,000 ballots after carefully verifying the voter signatures. That amounted to 20.5 percent of those who received ballots, a number sure to increase as Tuesday evening’s drop-box ballots and those still in the mail are added in. Washington’s election law allows any ballot…

Read More Read More

Secretary Reed’s `robust’ turnout prediction? 81 percent

Secretary Reed’s `robust’ turnout prediction? 81 percent

Secretary of State Sam Reed, Washington’s chief elections official, is predicting a robust voter turnout of 81 percent in the General Election that is currently underway. Reed figures that Washington voters will be attracted by highly competitive races for president and governor, hot races for Legislature and Congress, and some of the most compelling ballot measures in the country. Washington has nearly 3.9 million registered voters – an all-time high – and more are expected to be added, since new…

Read More Read More

WA 2011 primary election is underway!

WA 2011 primary election is underway!

Washington’s 2011 primary is underway, with county election officials mailing ballots to more than three-fourths of the state’s registered voters. It’s the first election since lawmakers officially switched the state to full use of vote-by-mail.  Pierce County, the last holdout for poll-site voting for a dwindling number of their residents, had made the switch to mail balloting. Not every registered voter should expect to receive a ballot. Two counties have no primary at all this year — Franklin and Wahkiakum…

Read More Read More

WA lawmakers button down hard-times session

WA lawmakers button down hard-times session

Washington lawmakers are heading back to their home districts after completing a brutal recession-era 135-day session.  Budget cutbacks, including salaries of state employees and teachers and budgets of virtually every area of government, were the rule of the day as lawmakers grappled with a budget gap of billions. Cuts and freezes totaling $4.6 billion will affect K-12, higher education, “safety  net” programs, and a variety of state services, from parks to prisons.  The $32 billion two-year budget takes effect July…

Read More Read More

WA now all vote-by-mail

WA now all vote-by-mail

Washington has become the second state in America — after Oregon — to move to conducting all elections by mail. Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday signed Senate Bill 5124, requiring all counties to use the popular vote-by-mail system.  As a practical matter, it won’t be a change for most voters, since 98 percent of the statewide vote is now conducted by mail.  It will, however, mean that Pierce County, the lone holdout, will need to end use of polling places….

Read More Read More

‘Election Day’ is here — be counted!

‘Election Day’ is here — be counted!

Washington’s election season culminates Tuesday, at least until the counting starts.  For all except some poll-site voters in Pierce County, Election Day is really Postmark Day for our ballots. That means if your mail ballot doesn’t have a valid Tuesday postmark, or unless you’ve used a dropoff box or carted your ballot directly in to the county elections office or an official voting center like they’ve opened in King County, it won’t count.  That would be really sad. Secretary of…

Read More Read More

Reed: WA voters are ‘wide awake’

Reed: WA voters are ‘wide awake’

Washington’s Election Day is now just a few days off, and Secretary of State Sam Reed is predicting the best midterm election turnout in four decades. Reed says voters are fired up and that counties are expecting a flood of mail-in ballots this weekend. Reed urges voters to “avoid the rush” and return ballots promptly so that there is no doubt about making the Tuesday postmark deadline. Voters can return their ballots by mail or in person to a dropbox…

Read More Read More