Today is Gen­er­al Elec­tion Day in Wash­ing­ton State and in sev­er­al oth­er states, includ­ing Ore­gon and Ida­ho. Much is at stake. Vot­ers in Wash­ing­ton will decide the fate of three legit­i­mate statewide bal­lot mea­sures (Ini­tia­tive 976, Ini­tia­tive 1000, Sen­ate Joint Res­o­lu­tion 8200) and two leg­isla­tive posi­tions being con­test­ed in spe­cial elec­tions, along with thou­sands of offices at the local level.

2019 is tru­ly a local elec­tion year: Most home rule coun­ties that oper­ate under their own char­ters (like King, Sno­homish, Clark, and What­com) will be fill­ing posi­tions, along with most cities, school dis­tricts, and ports.

Ore­gon and Ida­ho have no state-lev­el mea­sures on the bal­lot today, but there are a few local posi­tions and mea­sures on the bal­lot in numer­ous jurisdictions.

Have you vot­ed yet? If you have, con­grat­u­la­tions on ful­fill­ing your civic duty. Now, go check up on your friends and fam­i­ly and make sure they’ve vot­ed, too.

Haven’t vot­ed yet? It’s time to get that bal­lot in! You’ve only got a few hours left before time runs out to par­tic­i­pate. There’s no excuse for not voting.

You should have received your bal­lot in the mail a few weeks ago from the coun­ty you reside in. If you did not receive a bal­lot, or if you have mis­placed your bal­lot, you should call your coun­ty audi­tor or elec­tions office to obtain a pro­vi­sion­al ballot.

Don’t for­get to sign your bal­lot before putting it in a drop box or the mail. Wash­ing­to­ni­ans, locate the near­est drop box to you by going here.

If you live in Ore­gon, don’t take your bal­lot to a post office, as it’s too late to mail it. Find a drop box instead, and take your bal­lot there.

Not sure who to vote for? If you belong to or pre­fer a par­tic­u­lar polit­i­cal par­ty, you may want to con­sult their list of endorsements.

There’s also the Pro­gres­sive Vot­ers Guide main­tained by Fuse Washington.

NPI has tak­en posi­tions on the fol­low­ing statewide bal­lot mea­sures in Wash­ing­ton (we do not endorse or oppose can­di­dates for office).

Legit­i­mate statewide bal­lot measures

• Ini­tia­tive 976, spon­sored by Tim Eyman): NO
• Ini­tia­tive 1000/Referendum 88, spon­sored by Kan Qiu: APPROVED
• Sen­ate Joint Res­o­lu­tion 8200 (con­sti­tu­tion­al amend­ment): APPROVED

Tim Eyman’s push polls

Vote “MAINTAINED” on all twelve to resist Tim Eyman’s mali­cious attempts to under­mine our sys­tem of rep­re­sen­ta­tive government.

• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #20 (Sec­ond Sub­sti­tute House Bill 1087)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #21 (Engrossed Third Sub­sti­tute House Bill 1324)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #22 (Sub­sti­tute House Bill 1652)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #23 (Engrossed Sec­ond Sub­sti­tute House Bill 1873)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #24 (Engrossed Sec­ond Sub­sti­tute House Bill 2158)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #25 (Sub­sti­tute House Bill 2167)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #26 (Sub­sti­tute Sen­ate Bill 5581)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #27 (Engrossed Sub­sti­tute Sen­ate Bill 5993)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #28 (Engrossed Sub­sti­tute Sen­ate Bill 5997)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #29 (Engrossed Sub­sti­tute Sen­ate Bill 5998)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #30 (Engrossed Sub­sti­tute Sen­ate Bill 6004)
• “Advi­so­ry Vote” #31 (Engrossed Sen­ate Bill 6016)

Then, com­pose a short mes­sage to leg­isla­tive lead­ers in the House and the Sen­ate ask­ing them to repeal Eyman’s push polls dur­ing the upcom­ing 2020 leg­isla­tive ses­sion so these stu­pid things nev­er appear on our bal­lots again.