elections

Democrat Dave Upthegrove will face off against Republican former Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler this fall. Upthegrove made it onto the ballot by just a few dozen votes.

A measure to dissolve a small library district in southeastern Washington is blocked – for now – from the November ballot.

Numerous Democrats in the Washington Legislature are backing a new proposal to make voting in elections compulsory. Citizens are required by law to cast ballots in about 25 counties, but in no other U.S. states. Republicans in Olympia described the idea as "un-American."

Should the top elections official in Washington state officially be a nonpartisan? That's one difference between the top two finalists running for Washington Secretary of State. Nonpartisan challenger Julie Anderson wants to make the job independent from political party affiliations. Her opponent, Democratic incumbent Steve Hobbs says it's an unnecessary change. County auditors and sheriffs associations are also chewing over party labels and what those labels convey about the leanings of their offices.

Elections themselves have become a campaign issue. And this year Washington’s top election position is on the ballot. Eight candidates are running for Secretary of State in the August primary.

Across the country, backers of former President Donald Trump are making election integrity a campaign issue. So far, that issue has not dominated Washington’s election for secretary of state — the state’s top election official position. But mistrust in voting systems is an issue in some local races this year.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s big push to make it a crime for elected officials and candidates for office to incite lawlessness by making false statements about elections appears to have died in the state Legislature.

As the 2022 midterm elections loom, a partisan battle over access to the ballot box continues to be fought in Congress and in state legislatures across the country. Red states are passing new restrictions, while many blue states are making voting more accessible. That includes Washington.

In a surprise announcement Thursday, the anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he's drafting legislation to make it a crime for elected officials and candidates for public office to make false statements about election outcomes with the goal of inciting lawlessness. Inslee said such a law could withstand free speech challenges and is necessary to guard against ongoing attacks on democracy.

Potential candidates to replace Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman are already stepping forward after Wyman, a Republican, announced she will resign next month to take an election security position with the Biden administration. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, will appoint Wyman's replacement. That could spell the end of a nearly six decades Republican lock on the secretary of state's office.