Students reject Tim Eyman’s I‑517 in mock election; overwhelmingly pass I‑522

Today, Wash­ing­ton Sec­re­tary of State Kim Wyman’s office announced the results of this year’s mock elec­tion, which is held annu­al­ly in schools across Wash­ing­ton State. Stu­dents are giv­en the oppor­tu­ni­ty to weigh in on bal­lot mea­sures and key races for pub­lic office. The results don’t always por­tend the out­come of the real elec­tion, but often­times they do — and it’s always fun to look through the results.

This year, some 8,957 bal­lots were cast by stu­dents. 6,578 mid­dle and high school stu­dents cast bal­lots, while 2,379 ele­men­tary school stu­dents did.

Stu­dents vot­ed very pro­gres­sive­ly: 57% vot­ed to reject Tim Eyman’s I‑517, while 62.30% vot­ed to pass I‑522 and label genet­i­cal­ly mod­i­fied foods. Stu­dents in Seat­tle also vot­ed to reelect May­or Mike McGinn by a wide margin.

Here are the com­plete results of the mock elec­tion.

Ini­tia­tive 517
Yes: 3,760 votes — 42.50%
No: 5,087 votes — 57.50%

Ini­tia­tive 522
Yes: 5,547 votes — 62.30%
No: 3,357 votes — 37.70%

May­or of Seattle
Ed Mur­ray: 162 votes — 42.30%
Mike McGinn: 221 votes — 57.70%

Not many stu­dents par­tic­i­pat­ed in the mock elec­tion for Seat­tle may­or. But a decent num­ber weighed in statewide on the bal­lot measures.

If I had to guess, I‑522 and the Seat­tle may­oral race will be much clos­er. Recent polling has shown sup­port for Tim Eyman’s I‑517 col­laps­ing and oppo­si­tion grow­ing, and our coali­tion cer­tain­ly has the momen­tum, so I’m hope­ful we’ll win big. But it’s cer­tain­ly not a sure thing. We will def­i­nite­ly keep work­ing to edu­cate vot­ers until the 8 PM dead­line arrives on Tues­day, Novem­ber 5th.

If you have not vot­ed yet, you have less than a hun­dred hours to do so. NPI’s BallotGuide.info is your friend — use it to help you nav­i­gate the issues you’ll find on the front side of your bal­lot, includ­ing Tim Eyman’s push polls.