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Tag: Washington Elections

`Watershed year’: WA voting season under way!

`Watershed year’: WA voting season under way!

Washington’s voting period for the 2016 Election is under way, with counties mailing about 4.2 million ballots and awaiting a robust turnout of at least 80 percent. A handful of counties sent ballots on Tuesday and nearly all the rest were scheduled to go out Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is the deadline for outbound mail. Deadline for a postmark is Election Day, Nov. 8, and drop boxes may be used before 8 p.m. that day. A record 4,250,526 Washington residents…

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Secretary Wyman, auditors propose election reforms

Secretary Wyman, auditors propose election reforms

Secretary of State Kim Wyman and county election leaders have announced a bipartisan proposal to clear the way to check for citizenship of people who want to register and vote in Washington. At a news conference in Spokane on Friday, Wyman and county partners proposed legislation for the upcoming session that would adopt the REAL ID Act for Washington. That would mean people would have to present citizenship verification to get a driver’s license, and election administrators could then do…

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Facebook helps spread the word: Register to vote!

Facebook helps spread the word: Register to vote!

Facebook has launched an internet drive to prompt people to register to vote, including many in Washington. From Friday through Monday, Sept. 26, people on Facebook who are 18 and older will get a reminder at the top of their news feed urging them to get registered to vote – or if they already are registered, to remind their FB friends to do so. Secretary of State  Kim Wyman, the state’s chief elections official, said Washington could set a single-day…

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WA gets high marks for election info accessibility

WA gets high marks for election info accessibility

Ballotpedia, the nonpartisan online info source for politics and elections, has ranked Washington as the most improved state for accessibility of its Elections Division and voter and candidate information. Washington rose from 22nd in 2014 to third in the group’s 2016 ranking of the 50 states.  Washington got high marks for ease of online access, quality of information on the website, vote.wa.gov, and response time. Secretary of State Kim Wyman, the state’s chief elections official, said: “We are delighted to…

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April 28 special election coming up

April 28 special election coming up

Nearly half of Washington’s registered voters are receiving their ballots this week for the April Special Election voting period that ends April 28. The Elections Division reports that mail ballots are being sent out by this Friday to more than 1.7 million voters (44 percent of state’s registered voters) in 19 counties for this election. Military and overseas ballots were sent out in late March. Measures facing voters include fire, hospital, park and transit district levies, school bond measures and…

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Secretary Wyman certifies ’14 Primary

Secretary Wyman certifies ’14 Primary

Secretary of State Kim Wyman, the state’s chief elections officer, has certified the returns of the 2014 Washington Primary. The 39 counties tallied 1,222,710 ballots, 31.15 percent of the state’s registered voters. That is considerably lower than the 40 percent average of the two previous mid-term primaries, although both of those elections had U.S. Senate races to generate more television ads and spur greater voter attention. A much larger turnout is expected in the fall, when final winners will be…

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WA candidate Filing Week `important kickoff’

WA candidate Filing Week `important kickoff’

It all becomes official when Washington candidates for public office file their papers with election officials during the week of May 12-16. Filing by mail, now a little-used option, began quietly on April 28. But the more popular methods of filing for office, in-person or online, will take place during Filing Week.  Depending on the office sought, candidates will file either with the Secretary of State’s Office (on the 2nd floor of the Capitol) or with their county auditor. The…

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FAQs about those tax advisory votes

FAQs about those tax advisory votes

We’re getting lots of questions about a relatively new form of ballot measure in Washington state — the statewide tax advisory vote.   Here are some FAQs to help shed some light: Q. What are these Advisory Votes 3 through 7 that I see in my Voters’ Pamphlet? A.  These are nonbinding measures that let voters say whether they think the Legislature should “repeal” or “maintain” revenue-generating bills that lawmakers passed this year.  The Legislature used the $200 million from these…

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Looking for historic Voters’ Pamphlets? State Library has ‘em

Looking for historic Voters’ Pamphlets? State Library has ‘em

Just as turkey and football are Thanksgiving staples, the Voters’ Pamphlet is a regular feature during each fall’s General Election in Washington. In fact, you should have received the Voters’ Pamphlet in the mail for this year’s election. Did you know that the Office of Secretary of State is required by the Washington Constitution to send the Voters’ Pamphlet to every residence in the state? We’ve been doing just that since the state’s very first Voters’ Pamphlet, in 1914. Below…

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Tuesday’s National Voter Registration Day

Tuesday’s National Voter Registration Day

If you haven’t registered to vote in Washington, Tuesday’s just the prompt you need. Sept. 24 is National Voter Registration Day as designated by the National Association of Secretaries of State and Secretary of State Kim Wyman. Wyman, who sits on the NASS executive board, encourages all eligible Washington citizens who haven’t registered yet to do so in time to vote in the General Election this fall.  Washington has more than 3.9 million active registered voters, well above the 3.5…

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