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Tag: Top 2 Primary

Washington’s top-two primary: What it is and how it works

Washington’s top-two primary: What it is and how it works

Voting has begun for Washington’s 2018 Primary Election, for which ballots can be submitted in county drop boxes or via postage-paid U.S. Mail until Election Day, August 7. This year, Primary’s ballots include groups of candidates vying to collect enough votes to make the General Election, for which ballots are due Nov. 6. Across America, states use a variety of systems to winnow down fields of candidates to finalists, as the National Conference of State Legislatures describes here. In 2004,…

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Key deadlines and dates for 2016 WA Primary

Key deadlines and dates for 2016 WA Primary

Washington voters soon will have the chance to have their voices heard by voting in the 2016 state Primary. County elections officials will be mailing Primary ballots to registered voters around July 15. Military and overseas ballots were sent out June 18. If you’re not registered to vote, you can’t take part in this important step to winnow down the list of candidates to two in each race for this fall’s General Election. July 4 is the last day you…

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Top 2 Primary produces November finalists

Top 2 Primary produces November finalists

Washington voters made ready for the fall General Election by choosing their favorites to advance beyond the first cut — the qualifying election called the Top 2 Primary. There were surprises — such as several state Senate incumbents who were attempting to fend off strong challenges — and the twist of producing several marquee November finals that will feature finalists from the same party preference. Prime example: 4th Congressional District voters in Eastern Washington were choosing two Republicans, former Super…

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WA Primary voters give their Top 2 verdicts

WA Primary voters give their Top 2 verdicts

The seventh running of Washington’s Top 2 Primary gave voters the task of  winnowing the field of candidates for scores of state and local offices. The system, used since a voter-approved Top 2 initiative got the green light from the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008, lets voters collectively choose their two favorite candidates for each office to face off in the Nov. 4 General Election. Secretary of State Kim Wyman, the state’s chief elections official, urged a strong turnout, reminding…

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2014 WA Primary: Your vote, your voice

2014 WA Primary: Your vote, your voice

Ten years after Washington voters adopted the Top 2 Primary system by initiative, it’s time for the 2014 edition. Check your mail over the next few days for your Primary ballot.  Although it’s a mid-term election, there are races and propositions that are significant for your community, and we’re hoping for an excellent turnout, state Elections Director Lori Augino said this week. The 2014 Primary actually got under way last month when county election officials sent ballots by mail and…

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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…

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Lawmakers OK General Election for judges, SPI Top 2

Lawmakers OK General Election for judges, SPI Top 2

The Legislature has sent Gov. Jay Inslee a Top 2 elections bill that requires the two primary favorites for each race for Supreme Court, Appeals Court, Superior Court and  state school superintendent to advance to the General Election ballot. Currently it is possible for judges and SPI to prevail in the primary by getting more than 50 percent, with the victor going alone to the General Election ballot. This happened last fall in some judicial races and in Randy Dorn’s…

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Long battle for Top 2 Primary officially over

Long battle for Top 2 Primary officially over

(Photo courtesy of Legislative Support Services, Photo Department) It was a quiet, noncontroversial ending to a 12-year legal, legislative and ballot-box battle to preserve a wide-open primary system for Washington voters. The fight had involved the political parties, the highest court in the land, and even a detour through California. Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5518 to clear the state law books of all references to the much-maligned Pick-a-Party system that voters were required to use in 2004 through…

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After 45 years in public life, Sam Reed bids farewell

After 45 years in public life, Sam Reed bids farewell

(Photo courtesy of  Legislative Support Services Photography) Secretary of State Sam Reed bade a fond farewell to the people of Washington Tuesday after 45 years in public life, including 35 years as a state and county elected official. Addressing a joint session of the Legislature, Reed brought along a special reminder of his family’s long connection to Washington politics and government — his grandfather Sam Sumner’s battered leather briefcase.  Exactly 100 years earlier, Sumner, a state GOP chairman and longtime…

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Romney-Ryan ticket cleared for WA ballot

Romney-Ryan ticket cleared for WA ballot

The Romney-Ryan ticket has been given a green light to appear on the Washington state ballot in the fall. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee, in a ruling handed down from the bench after brief oral arguments Thursday, rejected a challenge brought by the Libertarian Party of Washington. The Libertarians had argued that the Republicans of Washington lapsed into minority status by not getting 5 percent of the 2010 statewide vote with a “nominated” candidate for U.S. Senate. The…

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