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Legislature

WA voters can get quick election results on iPhone and Android

WA voters can get quick election results on iPhone and Android

Want to check out election results on the go? This year you will be able to view them wherever you are with our office’s free Elections Results apps for iPhone and Android phones.  These apps provide current vote totals for state, federal, legislative, and judicial offices, giving users a convenient way to stay up to date on their favorite races. County elections departments begin tabulating ballots that have been received and processed shortly after close at 8 p.m. and within minutes you…

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Reed urges strong Top 2 Primary turnout

Reed urges strong Top 2 Primary turnout

Secretary of State Sam Reed is urging a great turnout for Washington’s Top 2 Primary, which offers voters a chance to pick finalists for Governor, U.S. Congress, Legislature, and many state and local offices.  Tuesday is your deadline for mail ballots to be postmarked or placed in county election dropbox. Reed says the election offers ballot draws for just about everyone: “This is one of those watershed election years, and the action begins with the primary. There are lots of…

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“Library Jewel” # 3: Political business cards

“Library Jewel” # 3: Political business cards

Washington State’s Primary Election is nearly upon us, occuring next Tuesday, August 7.  In honor of the upcoming Primary, we are featuring two rare political business cards as our third “Library Jewel” for July, located within the Rare Publicans section of the Washington State Library. These political business cards, featured below in the picture, belonged to candidates who were running for separate elections in 1908.  The card on the left belonged to Republican Party candidate Theodore Mentzer, a lumberjack from Tenino,…

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WA voters will face two first-ever tax advisory measures

WA voters will face two first-ever tax advisory measures

Washington voters will get a first-ever chance to give their non-binding opinion on a pair of revenue bills passed by the Legislature this year and signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire in May. According to Solicitor General Maureen Hart, voter-approved Initiative 960 triggers advisory votes on provisions of House Bill 2590, extending the petroleum tax that pays for the pollution liability insurance trust account, and Senate Bill 6635, an omnibus bill dealing with tax preferences, including a provision removing…

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Rossi returns to the Senate…temporarily

Rossi returns to the Senate…temporarily

(Photo courtesy of Washington State Senate) Nine years after he left the Senate in 2003, Dino Rossi is back in the “upper chamber” of the Legislature. But it will be only for a few months. Rossi, who ran twice for governor and once for U.S. Senate after leaving the state Senate, was appointed Monday afternoon by the Metropolitan King County Council to fill the unexpired term of Cheryl Pflug, who resigned her 5th Legislative District Senate seat to take an…

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Launching Saturday: new book about tribal icon Billy Frank Jr.

Launching Saturday: new book about tribal icon Billy Frank Jr.

He’s one of the most famous Native Americans in Washington history, and an instrumental figure in the long and sometimes bitter battle over Indian fishing rights. A new and privately funded book about the life of Nisqually tribal leader Billy Frank Jr. is officially being launched Saturday afternoon in Olympia. The book is entitled “Where the Salmon Runs: The Life and Legacy of Billy Frank Jr.” The book launch is from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at The Evergreen State College…

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`The race is on’: WA primaries next up

`The race is on’: WA primaries next up

Washington’s campaign season is officially underway, with hundreds of candidates signed up for 364 offices, from the U.S. Senate and statewide offices to key races that will determine control of the state Legislature and the future of 10 congressional districts. Secretary of State Sam Reed said he was pleased with the remarkable rush of interest in state and local office, given the difficult problems facing Washington state and the sometimes harsh nature of modern campaigning and the unpredictable influence of…

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Legislature sends PCO elections bill to Governor

Legislature sends PCO elections bill to Governor

Washington’s PCO elections are on the verge of being back in business. A year after a federal court judge ruled state-run PCO elections unconstitutional in the context of the Top 2 Primary, the Legislature has approved a bill requiring PCO elections to be conducted during the state’s Primary Election, which occurs Aug. 7 this year. The House concurred with Senate amendments to House Bill 1860 sending the proposal to Gov. Gregoire for her probable signing. Precinct committee officers are local…

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Graced by Apple Blossom Royalty

Graced by Apple Blossom Royalty

One of the highlights of the legislative session is when the Wenatchee area’s Apple Blossom Royal Court comes across the Cascades for its annual visit to Olympia. That was the case Monday as the 2012 Apple Blossom Royalty stopped by the Secretary of State’s Executive Office in the Legislative Building. During their stopover, Princesses Hayley Brown (left) and Devyn Huylar watched as Apple Blossom Queen Samantha Allen (right) got some hands-on experience operating our official State Seal in Secretary Reed’s…

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Recognizing Washington’s African-American legislators

Recognizing Washington’s African-American legislators

The State Library is featuring the 13 African-Americans who have served in Washington’s Legislature, and their accomplishments. The State Library is a division of the Office of Secretary of State. This feature is found on the State Library’s “Between The Lines” blog. The list starts with William Owen Bush, a Republican state representative from Thurston County who served in the first state Legislature after statehood, in 1889. Bush (whose photo here is courtesy of the Washington State Historical Society) was…

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