In conjunction with Get out the Disability Vote Week, the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library hosted an event to help members of the disability community take part in this summer’s Primary. Accessible voting units were made available at WTBBL Wednesday for voters who need assistance completing their ballot.
During the 2017 state Elections Conference this week at the Skamania Lodge, Secretary Wyman and many in our Elections Division are joining Washington’s county auditors and their elections employees to learn or share new ideas and practices that will allow them to run elections even better at the county and state levels. Wyman and state Elections Division Director Lori Augino presented the state elections awards Wednesday.
Washington’s 2017 election cycle is officially under way following last Friday’s completion of Candidate Filing Week. This year’s Filing Week produced a total of 3,232 candidates (which includes state and county filings) for more than 3,100 offices open this year. To find out who filed in each of our 39 counties, go here. Perhaps the most-watched local race in the state will be for Seattle mayor, a position that saw 21 candidates throw their hats into the
Many candidates already have been running for weeks or months, but the official start to campaign season in Washington – Candidate Filing Week – is next week, May 15-19. Nearly all of the 3,100-plus offices open for this election this year are local offices, such as city council, school district, fire district, port district and other races, including Seattle mayor.
Nearly 10 percent of Washington’s registered voters are receiving ballots for the 2017 April Special Election voting period that ends April 25. The state Elections Division reports that mail ballots were sent by last Friday to 388,362 voters (9 percent of state’s registered voters) in 15 counties for this election. Nearly 306,000 of the April voters are found in Spokane County. Military and overseas ballots were sent out in March.
It’s time for Washington to move its Presidential Primary earlier in the year so the state has a more relevant role in choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees, Secretary of State Kim Wyman told a House panel. Wyman testified Wednesday afternoon before the House State Government, Elections and Information Technology Committee on Senate Bill 5333, a bipartisan proposal prime-sponsored by Sen.
