Election Day 2023: Reminder To Vote
Election Day 2023: Reminder To Vote (NPI graphic)

Today is Gen­er­al Elec­tion Day in Wash­ing­ton and in sev­er­al oth­er states, includ­ing Vir­ginia and New Jer­sey (which have state leg­isla­tive elec­tions), Ken­tucky and Mis­sis­sip­pi (which have guber­na­to­r­i­al elec­tions), and Ohio (where the fate of a con­sti­tu­tion­al amend­ment con­cern­ing repro­duc­tive rights will be decided).

Thou­sands of local posi­tions are on the bal­lot here in the Ever­green State, from the city lev­el to the port lev­el to the school dis­trict level.

Three coun­ties are also hold­ing elec­tions for coun­ty-lev­el offices — King, Sno­homish, and What­com. Sno­homish and What­com will elect coun­ty exec­u­tives. Sno­homish also has a huge­ly con­se­quen­tial sher­if­f’s race.

In Spokane, there’s a coun­ty­wide propo­si­tion to increase rev­enue to build a jail that’s attract­ed con­tro­ver­sy. The City of Spokane has a nation­al­ly watched may­oral race as well as impor­tant city coun­cil races.

Seat­tle has sev­en city coun­cil dis­trict con­tests and a hous­ing levy.

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 can print a replace­ment at home pret­ty eas­i­ly. Just reach out to your coun­ty elec­tions office. Most have infor­ma­tion on their web­sites about replac­ing a 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 reg­is­tered to vote? Wash­ing­ton has same-day vot­er reg­is­tra­tion! You can cast a bal­lot if you go to an in-per­son vot­ing assis­tance center.

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 local bal­lot mea­sures in Wash­ing­ton (we do not endorse or oppose can­di­dates for office).

  • Spokane Coun­ty Mea­sure #1 (Insti­tut­ing a high­er sales and use tax to fund law enforce­ment and incar­cer­a­tion): NO
  • Spokane City Propo­si­tion #1 (Crim­i­nal­iz­ing encamp­ments in cer­tain areas): NO
  • City of Kirk­land Propo­si­tion No. 1: Levy Lid Lift for Expand­ed Aquat­ics, Recre­ation, and Parks Facil­i­ties, Oper­a­tions, and Pro­grams: YES
  • City of Maple Val­ley Propo­si­tion No. 1 Levy Lid Lift for Pub­lic Safe­ty: YES
  • City of Seat­tle Propo­si­tion No. 1: Prop­er­ty Tax Levy Renew­al for Afford­able Hous­ing: YES
  • Enum­claw School Dis­trict No. 216 Propo­si­tion No. 1 Gen­er­al Oblig­a­tion Bonds -$103,000,000: YES
  • Fife School Dis­trict No. 417 Propo­si­tion 1: YES
  • Kent School Dis­trict No. 415 Propo­si­tion No. 1 Replace­ment of Expir­ing Edu­ca­tion­al Pro­grams and Oper­a­tions Levy: YES
  • Kent School Dis­trict No. 415 Propo­si­tion No. 2 Cap­i­tal Projects and Tech­nol­o­gy Levy: YES
  • Skykomish School Dis­trict No. 404 Propo­si­tion No. 1 Tech­nol­o­gy Cap­i­tal Projects Levy: YES
  • King Coun­ty Fire Pro­tec­tion Dis­trict No. 27 Propo­si­tion No. 1 Prop­er­ty Tax Levy for Fire Pro­tec­tion and Emer­gency Med­ical Ser­vices: YES
  • Sno­qualmie Pass Fire And Res­cue Prop­er­ty Tax Levy for Fire Pro­tec­tion and Emer­gency Med­ical Ser­vices Propo­si­tion No. 1: YES
  • Val­ley Region­al Fire Author­i­ty Propo­si­tion No. 1 Fire Author­i­ty Bonds: YES
  • Si View Met­ro­pol­i­tan Park Dis­trict Propo­si­tion No. 1 Improve­ment Bonds to Replace Aging Si View Pool and Pre­serve Aquat­ic Access: YES

Thank you for vot­ing and encour­ag­ing oth­ers to vote!

About the author

Andrew Villeneuve is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, as well as the founder of NPI's sibling, the Northwest Progressive Foundation. He has worked to advance progressive causes for over two decades as a strategist, speaker, author, and organizer. Andrew is also a cybersecurity expert, a veteran facilitator, a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, and a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

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