A resident makes his way to the dining room for lunch at a nursing home on March 6, 2020. (Credit: David Goldman / AP Photo) Listen (Runtime :53) Read In […]Read More
A Free the Vote Washington coalition sign in Richland, Washington. The coalition is encouraging people with past felony convictions to register to vote, which has been their right since a […]Read More
More Murrow News Stories COLFAX, Wash. – Panic buttons, bulletproof glass, biohazard boxes and security officers. Those are some of the protections Whitman County Auditor Sandy Jamison is taking to […]Read More
Grace Go, a recent graduate of Mercer Island High School, worked on a segment about “What America means to you” for the “On Our Minds” podcast. (Courtesy of Grace Go) […]Read More
If you were to drive the farthest west you can in Washington, you’d reach Clallam County. That’s on the tip of the Olympic Peninsula, nestled between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean. It’s a remote, wide county, where you can visit Olympic National Park and drive from sunny Sequim to rainy Forks. It’s a place known for its beauty and for its Read More
Left, Dan Newhouse (Credit: Dan Newhouse) Right, Jerrod Sessler (Credit: Jerrod Sessler) Listen (Runtime 1:03) Read U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse has fallen behind in votes against Donald Trump-endorsed challenger Jerrod […]Read More
(Credit: Dan Newhouse, Jerrod Sessler and Tiffany Smiley campaigns) Listen (Runtime 1:09) Read Washington state voters face a choice: Re-elect incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, one of the few House […]Read More
A ballot from the March 2024 primary election in Washington state. (Credit: Johanna Bejarano / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 7:53) Read In preparation for the general election this November, Northwest Public […]Read More
A few months from now, people across Washington state will vote in this year’s general election. Most will vote by mail, with the ballot mailed to them from their county auditor.
Voters will fill out their ballots, sign the envelopes and drop them off in a ballot box or send them in the post, where a team of election workers will accept those ballots and send them over to Read More
By: Jeanie Lindsay, Northwest News Network The governor’s race in Washington is back to “Bob-ness” as usual, after two candidates named Bob Ferguson withdrew their names from consideration Monday. The […]Read More
By: Jeanie Lindsay, Northwest News Network People running for office in Washington will begin submitting official paperwork next week to get on the ballot – and an unusually high number […]Read More
The Sunnyside School District Board could be the next jurisdiction to face a lawsuit for violating the Washington State Voting Rights Act. A group has notified the District that the election system dilutes the Latino vote, and if it’s not fixed, the District could end up in court.Read More
The skepticism in how elections work and their accuracy has become a hot topic on social media, at the dinner table and in the news.
Kyle Haugh, Pierce County elections manager, said since 2016, there’s been a spike in interest in how elections are administered. Read More
The goal of the Idahoans for Open Primaries initiative is to bring ranked-choice voting and open primaries to Idaho. If enough signatures are gathered, the initiative will be on the […]Read More
With the deadline looming to secure enough signatures to get their initiative on the ballot, volunteers with Tacoma For All canvassed across Tacoma Friday.
Zev Cook, field manager for the campaign, led a group of eight volunteers in the late afternoon around a South Tacoma neighborhood. Read More
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.Read More
More eyes are on ballots in the Tri-Cities area this election, according to reports from the Benton County auditor.Read More
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.Read More
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.Read More
A quartet of independent candidates on the ballot this November in Oregon and Washington state will test voter appetites for a centrist “third way.” They are experienced contenders running for state senate, Oregon governor and Washington Secretary of State. Unaffiliated candidates are popping up around the nation too, with a common theme of being fed up with a divisive Read More
Photo by Phil Scroggs on Unsplash Listen (Runtime 1:49) Read The primary election in Washington will be certified on August 16th and many races are still very close. Is it […]Read More
Democratic incumbent Steve Hobbs and independent challenger Julie Anderson were leading Washington’s top two primary for Secretary of State after the initial ballot count Tuesday night. Republican Bob Hagglund, who has never held public office, was in a close third place.Read More
Washington legislative Republicans were taking stock Wednesday of their less than dazzling performance in the initial returns of the August primary.Read More
A newsroom in Yakima was preparing for election night coverage and running tests of their system when it went live. Now two 4th Congressional Candidates in Eastern Washington have filed complaints.Read More
Washington State Official Ballot. Listen (Runtime 1:20) Read Latino participation in this primary election is a challenge for organizations in the Yakima Valley. With just a few hours to go, […]Read More
The Benton County Auditor is testing a new paid ballot observer program this year using members of partisan and nonpartisan organizations. Read More
For nearly six decades, Republicans held Washington's top election post — Secretary of State. That streak ended last November when Kim Wyman resigned to take an election security post with the Biden administration, and Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Democratic state Sen. Steve Hobbs to the post.Read More
Photo of Chris Matthews recording Traverse Talks in the Pullman studios on April 20, 2022. Chris Matthews, a self-described centrist, spent his lifetime in politics. A speechwriter during the Carter […]Read More
Pasco residents gathered at the Tierra Vida Community Center to hear from the candidates for the 4th Congressional District. Benancio Garcia (R), Jacek Kobiesa (R) and Doug White (D) answered […]Read More
Franklin County Auditor Matt Beaton, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton Listen (Runtime 2:42) Read Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs is calling attention to election […]Read More
Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire has spent nearly two decades helping run elections, including stints as Oregon deputy secretary of state and at the Department of Defense, ensuring military service members overseas could vote.Read More
La preocupación por la redistribución de los distritos en el Valle de Yakima puede verse eclipsada por la la baja participación electoral de los latinos. Listen Johanna Bejarano, del NWPB, […]Read More
Concerns about redistricting in the Yakima Valley may be overshadowed by concerns over low voter turnout amongst Latinos Listen NWPB’s Johanna Bejarano reports on concerns about low voter turnout amongst […]Read More
Concerns are being raised about the number of ballots from Latino voters being rejected during elections in Washington State / CREDIT: Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut Listen NWPB’s Johanna Bejarano reports on reaction to […]Read More
Concerns are being raised about the number of ballots from Latino voters being rejected during elections in Washington State / CREDIT: Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut Listen NWPB’s Dori Luzzo Gilmour reports on […]Read More
Election officials continue to battle false accusations of voting fraud / AP Listen NWPB’s Dori Luzzo Gilmour reports on one election official who continues to battle false accusations of voter […]Read More
Voting districts around Yakima and the Columbian Basin. Image Credit: WA Redistricting Commission. Listen Read The Washington State Redistricting Commission won’t intervene in a Voting Rights Act Lawsuit that challenges […]Read More
A measure backed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee that would have made 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.Read More
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.Read More
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 Read More
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday signed a massive overhaul of election laws, shortly after the Republican-controlled state legislature approved it. The bill enacts new limitations on mail-in voting, expands most voters' access to in-person early voting and caps a months-long battle over voting in a battleground state.Read More
Dogged by the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration's interference with the census schedule, the latest expected release date — six months past the March 31 legal deadline — could throw upcoming elections into chaos in states facing tight redistricting deadlines for Congress, as well as state and local offices.Read More
State and local election officials in Washington said Thursday that election systems here are secure and haven’t been hacked. Those assurances follow multiple reports in recent days of efforts by foreign actors to interfere with the upcoming national election.Read More
For more than half a century, Republicans have had a lock on Washington’s Secretary of State’s office. This year, Democrats hope to end that five decade run by unseating incumbent Kim Wyman who’s seeking a third term.Read More
The report concludes Wisconsin voters who braved the pandemic and went to the polls in April did not see a surge in COVID-19 infections, although another study reaches the opposite conclusion.Read More
Washington’s typically sleepy August primary will test the endurance of voters as they navigate a larger-than-usual crop of candidates. The robust turnout of would-be officeholders may be, at least partially, the result of the state making it easier to qualify for the ballot in light of the coronavirus pandemic.Read More
Monday's decision brought a sigh of relief from election experts, who worried that if Electoral College delegates were free to vote as they chose, the 2020 election would have turned into a free-for-all, with no rules to prevent corruption and manipulation, with delegates offered gifts and even cash for their votes, and blackmail also a possibility.Read More
Elections are run by state and local governments, and it's unclear what legal means the president would have to withhold funds from the states.Read More
Tuesday's contests offer 352 delegates among six states. Michigan is the biggest prize, and it could be another pivot point in this Democratic primary.Read More
The only Latina candidate running for Yakima City Council appears to have lost her bid. That means Yakima -- the population of which is nearly 50 percent Latinx -- will likely be governed by an all-white council for the first time since 2015.Read More
