Election Reform

Major elections issues for 2011 include:

Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure

Recent elections demonstrated that while Washington's campaign finance laws are robust, there remain opportunities for further strengthening public disclosure requirements and for clarifying the enforcement tools available to respond to intentional violations aimed at withholding information from the public. The Government Operations, Tribal Affairs & Elections Committee will consider legislation to amend election campaign finance laws in order to promote greater transparency for the public. Read more...

Public Financing for Supreme Court Elections

The Senate is pushing to create a voluntary public financing program for Supreme Court justice candidates who want to opt out of corporately financed campaigns.  Participating candidates would receive campaign funding in exchange for agreeing to program requirements, such as only accepting contributions from individuals and collecting at least 500 contributions that combined, total at least $41,050.

Washington Presidential Primary

Secretary of State Sam Reed and Governor Chris Gregoire, together have asked the Legislature to suspend the Washington Presidential Primary in 2012 in order to help address the budget deficit, by saving approximately $10 million. The request includes a provision to reinstate the Presidential Primary in 2016. 

Washington's Primary Date

Secretary of State Reed has announced the need for legislation to move back by two weeks the date of the state primary election in order to comply with a new federal law governing the delivery of ballots to military and overseas voters.