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September is National Voter Registration Month

September is National Voter Registration Month

If you haven’t registered yet to vote in Washington and need a little prompting, just realize there is an entire month devoted to this one easy but important action. September is National Voter Registration Month. Secretary of State Sam Reed is joining fellow members of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) to work toward the goal of making eligible voters aware of registration deadlines and requirements for the General Election ending Nov. 6.  Reed and other NASS members are…

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WA Senate: No 2012 presidential primary

WA Senate: No 2012 presidential primary

The Washington Senate has given strong approval to a plan by Secretary of State Sam Reed, a Republican, and Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, to suspend the 2012 presidential primary in order to save over $10 million. The Senate voted 34-15 to approve a one-time suspension of the presidential primary.  A number of senators on both sides of the issue said they vastly favor the primary over the old caucus system that draws many fewer participants and excludes overseas voters,…

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A Good Year for Library Elections

A Good Year for Library Elections

With the final votes tallied, and some close calls, libraries have come out on top in the recent Washington elections with a perfect 6 for 6 score. In Cowlitz County, the levy for the Castle Rock Public Library succeeded with 62.34% of the vote, which is great because it needed a supermajority (at least 60%) to pass. The final tally was 298 votes for and 180 against. A levy failure in 2008 forced the library to rely solely on donations…

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Californians adopt Washington’s Top 2 Primary

Californians adopt Washington’s Top 2 Primary

Do two states a trend make? California voters have ignored the wishes of the political parties and strongly approved a constitutional amendment that essentially adopts the Top 2 Primary pioneered in Washington.  This means all state voters, including independents, will get to pick the two finalists for each office. After a green-light from the U.S. Supreme Court, Washington began using its voter-approved system in 2008.  The state’s third running of the Top 2 Primary will be conducted largely by mail,…

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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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April 27 special election coming up

April 27 special election coming up

Some Washington voters are receiving their ballots for the April 27 special election. Mail ballots are being sent out to a number of local voting jurisdictions in about 15 counties for this election. Measures facing voters include emergency medical services levies, school bond measures and school maintenance and operation levies. Here are the counties indicating they have an April election: Chelan, Columbia, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, King, Mason, Okanogan, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom and Whitman. Monday, April…

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It’s a homerun! Online voter registration, that is

It’s a homerun! Online voter registration, that is

A new report from the independent Pew Center for the States gives top marks to online voter registration in Washington and Arizona, the states that pioneered the service that is now catching on in other states, including Oregon, California and Colorado. It’s an easy and secure click-on system – all an eligible voter needs is a valid driver’s license to get started.  State Election Director Nick Handy, whose team has been sharing startup information with other states, says Washington residents…

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Gregoire inks ballot design improvements

Gregoire inks ballot design improvements

Governor Gregoire has approved legislation aimed at improving ballot design in Washington, making it less likely a voter will miss important issues. The measure, House Bill 2496, will require counties to clear up visual clutter on their ballots, and make sure that the voter-instruction section is clearly separated from the actual beginning of the voting itself. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Scott White of  Seattle, grew out of apparent confusion by many King County voters last November, when about 7…

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Felon voter update: State will appeal to high court

Felon voter update: State will appeal to high court

Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed of Washington will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the state’s appeal of the  Tuesday’s federal court ruling that overturned the state’s longstanding practice of not allowing felons to vote while in prison or on community supervision.  Governor Gregoire, herself a former attorney general, says she strongly supports the move. The state will also quickly ask the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to put its ruling on hold while…

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9th Circuit throws out Wash. ban on felon voting

9th Circuit throws out Wash. ban on felon voting

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out Washington’s longstanding ban on voting by felons. The surprise 2-1 ruling comes in a case brought in U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington almost 14 years ago by Muhammad Shabazz Farrakhan and three other black inmates, and by a Native American and a Latino inmate.  The inmates said minorities are disproportionately prosecuted and sentenced to prison, and that their automatic disenfranchisement violates the federal Voting Rights Act. The Appeals bench concurred…

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