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Tag: military and overseas voting

New video focuses on military voting

New video focuses on military voting

We’ve just finished a cool new video that chronicles efforts on behalf of our office to assist military voters. Watch the video here. Entitled “Serving Those Who Serve – A Guide to Military Voting in Washington State,” the approximately 10 minute video aims to educate military members living in Washington or overseas, a group of voters who represent one of the most mobile demographics. Washington has a large military population, and almost 50,000 registered military voters. The state enjoys a…

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WA moves primary earlier, eases military voting

WA moves primary earlier, eases military voting

Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed legislation moving the state’s primary election two weeks earlier, starting in August of 2012, and making it easier for our military and overseas voters to cast ballots electronically. Secretary of State Sam Reed, who championed the legislation, hailed the governor’s action and the Legislature’s strong support of efforts to bring the state fully into compliance with federal law requiring that ballots be sent to military and overseas voters 45 days before the election. The state’s…

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WA House OKs military voting bill

WA House OKs military voting bill

The Washington House has voted unanimously in favor of a bill championed by Secretary of State Sam Reed to help our military and overseas voters.  Senate committee action on a broader bill is scheduled for Monday. House Bill 1000, sponsored by Rep. Chris Hurst and others, would allow soldiers and Washington voters abroad to return their voted ballots by fax or email, as many states do. Currently, ballots can be sent electronically to the voter, but the final voted ballot…

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Military voting: 51-day transit exceeds feds’ 45-day rule

Military voting: 51-day transit exceeds feds’ 45-day rule

Washington election officials today emphasized that the state’s recent federal “waiver” of the 45-day ballot deadline for military and overseas voters shouldn’t be viewed as providing less voting time for our soldiers abroad. Indeed, Washington has a generous 51-day transit period, and all properly voted military ballots that are returned in the three weeks after Election Day are counted. State Elections Director Nick Handy said Thursday: “It’s clear that some people hear the word `waiver’ and jump to the erroneous…

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The story behind our military voting waiver request

The story behind our military voting waiver request

In recent days, our office has received some inquiries about a federal waiver request to the U.S. Department of Defense by our Elections Division in early July dealing with military voters. The inquiries come on the heels of this FOX News story headlined “DOJ Accused of Stalling on MOVE Act for Voters in Military.” The story mentions Washington as one of two states  (Hawaii is the other, according to FOX) requesting this waiver. We’ve asked for a waiver from the…

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