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Tag: Vote-by-mail

Reed: Thumb’s up for all-mail voting

Reed: Thumb’s up for all-mail voting

Secretary Reed is a big fan of the state’s embrace of vote-by-mail – and is urging Congress to help voters in other states have the same option. Reed, now in his 10th year as Washington’s chief elections officer, has been impressed with how well-received this reform has been, implemented over time and without a mandate from Olympia.  In recent testimony prepared for the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Reed endorsed legislation by both of Oregon’s senators and Washington Sen….

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Beat the clock: It’s election time across Washington

Beat the clock: It’s election time across Washington

In most corners of Washington, we’re in voting mode – and tomorrow is the deadline to get those ballots in. Secretary of State Sam Reed put out a plea today for a strong turnout. “As an officeholder who served in local government for years as Thurston County Auditor, I like to make the point that our local elections, including our springtime elections, are among the most important times for us to have our voices heard.  We have 254 different measures…

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And then there were 39?

And then there were 39?

Ever since the Legislature gave counties permission to decide whether to switch to all vote-by-mail, nearly every one has made the move. The last two holdouts of the 39 counties have been populous King (Seattle) and Pierce (Tacoma).  King County, which soon will be certified to use new rapid ballot-counting machines, has announced that it will no longer use poll sites. And Pierce County’s new auditor, Jan Shabro, has just sent up a request to the County Council asking permission to…

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No stamp required …

No stamp required …

Among the skads of election-related bills is this little idea by Representatives Hasegawa, Green and Chase. Their House Bill 2112 would require counties to send out their vote-by-mail ballots wih prepaid return postage.  Info about  HB 2112 can be found here. The state would reimburse the counties. No word yet on the pricetag, but a similar bill last year had a cost of $2 million-plus, so it could be a tough sell in this economic environment. Secretary Reed has testified against the free-postage…

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