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Elections

WA initiative season underway

WA initiative season underway

As WA lawmakers prepare to open their session on Monday, the people’s process of writing laws by initiative got its start Friday. By mid-afternoon, 24 proposals were filed with the Secretary of State’s Elections Division, including 13 from initiative activist Tim Eyman. His measures deal with making it tougher to raise taxes in Olympia, bringing back $30 car tabs, express lane tolls, and other issues. Kurt Ludden of Seattle filed seven initiatives, dealing with medical marijuana, and the initiative process. …

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Registration deadlines coming for February special election

Registration deadlines coming for February special election

If you aren’t a registered voter in Washington but want to vote in the special election period ending Feb. 9, you need to register soon. Jan. 11 is the last day to register online or by mail, or to update your existing registration if you’ve changed your address or name. Go here to register online or to print out a voter registration form. If you’re currently not a registered voter in Washington, you have until Feb. 1 to register in…

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I-732, I-735 sponsors turn in signatures

I-732, I-735 sponsors turn in signatures

Several boxes of signature petition sheets that I-735 sponsors delivered Wednesday afternoon. Sponsors of two initiatives to the 2016 Legislature delivered signatures to the state Elections Division Wednesday afternoon, one day before the Dec. 31 deadline. Initiative 732 aims to impose a carbon emission tax on certain fossil fuels. After delivering what the campaign said were 250,000 signatures in late October, I-732 sponsors turned in what one supporter said were about 100,000 additional signatures, for a total of roughly 350,000….

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WA 2015 General Election certified — now on to 2016!

WA 2015 General Election certified — now on to 2016!

Assistant Secretary of State Mark Neary (left) signs an election document as Gov. Inslee looks on. Gov. Jay Inslee and Assistant Secretary of State Mark Neary made it official Wednesday, certifying the 2015 General Election returns. Over 1.5 million ballots, including thousands from military and overseas voters, were submitted during the voting period. The odd-year election included two state initiatives, two state House races, over 3,000 local government races and 166 measures. “This election put the limelight on local government…

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Eyman and his nemesis file dueling initiatives

Eyman and his nemesis file dueling initiatives

Flanked by Mike and Jack Fagan, Tim Eyman files his latest anti-tax initiative. Andrew Villeneuve, an Eyman opponent who also filed an initiative Wednesday, stands in the background. Initiative king Tim Eyman visited our Capitol office to file his statewide initiative to the 2016 Legislature that would limit the duration of tax increases to one year if not approved by either a supermajority of the Legislature, or by voters. But minutes before Eyman’s arrival, his liberal nemesis, Northwest Progressive Institute’s…

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The 1890 vote that decided Washington’s capital

The 1890 vote that decided Washington’s capital

(Images courtesy of Washington State Archives) Unlike this year, Washington voters in 1890 weren’t pondering initiatives on making it harder to raise taxes or protecting endangered species.  (We couldn’t even vote on statewide initiatives back then!) One issue that statewide voters did consider on this date 125 years ago would have enormous impact on Washington: Which city should be the young state’s capital? The three finalists were Ellensburgh (yes, there was an “H” on the end back then), North Yakima…

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Want election results fast? Get our free app!

Want election results fast? Get our free app!

Once the General Election voting period ends Nov. 3 at 8 p.m., many candidates, voters, the media and political junkies will again use our free election results mobile app to get the latest results on state ballot measures, two special legislative races and many local contests.  Since the app debuted a few years ago, it’s been super popular. If you have a smartphone, just download the app here for your iPhone, Android or Windows Phone devices. In addition to providing…

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Looking for your ballot dropbox? VIP offers cool lookup tool

Looking for your ballot dropbox? VIP offers cool lookup tool

As Washington’s 2015 election nears, we’re promoting use of ballot drop boxes and county election centers for a free, secure way to return ballots without any worry about getting an Election Day  postmark. One handy tip: You can use the voter look-up services of the Voting Information Project, a collaboration of Google and Pew Charitable Trusts. As with the state-run MyVote tool, WA voters can look up their custom-tailored ballot and locate their closest ballot drop box or county election…

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I-732 sponsors turn in 243K signatures

I-732 sponsors turn in 243K signatures

I-732 sponsor Yoram Bauman (center) talks to media and supporters after he and others turned in signatures for the ballot measure. Sponsors of an initiative to the Legislature to impose a carbon emission tax on certain fossil fuels submitted what the campaign estimated at more than 243,000 signatures Thursday at the state Elections Division office in Olympia. Initiative 732 sponsor Yoram Bauman says his team so far has collected about 294,000 signatures and hopes to gather a total of 330,000…

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