Dear neighbors,
As other states across the nation contend with conspiracy theories and local legislation that aims to make it HARDER for people to vote, our state has been ahead of the curve for years – helping everyday Washingtonians take part in safe and secure elections.
Studies continually tell us that when we help to provide a safe, easy way for community members to take part in the election process, we see increased participation along with many other benefits! Mail-in voting means you don’t miss work or school time in order to vote. It also means no long lines waiting at the polls and the usual accompanying traffic jams at polling places. In other states we’ve seen voters standing outside for hours—in all kinds of weather—just to be able to vote. And sometimes the polls close before they’ve been able to cast their ballot!
With our safe and accessible election system we see an increased turnout which means more voices are being heard – more of our neighbors are represented. States that mail a ballot to every registered voter can see an increased voter turnout averaging 4 percent or more—that’s a potential of nearly 200,000 more Washingtonians!!! Specifically, 200,000 more people who have historically found it difficult to take part in elections; like veterans and military personnel, students and teachers, nurses and doctors, single parents, disabled people and others! In Washington, we even passed a law requiring the date of the election be printed on the ballot envelope—to make sure EVERYONE knows when their vote must be in the mail.
On top of that, we’ve passed legislation that makes it easier for college students to get registered and cast ballots, AND we allow young folks who will be old enough to vote in the general election to vote in the primary! (SB 6313/ HB 2558).
Click the link to watch my video below and learn all about how Washington is considered by many to be the gold standard of secure mail-in elections!
It should be everyone’s goal to increase the number of our fellow Washingtonians who vote. Democracy is a system that only works when we strive to make sure every voice is heard. Our goal is to assure, as much as possible, that our elections are safe and accessible with secure voting and trackable, traceable, tamper-resistant paper ballots.
I hope every Washingtonian feels as proud as I do about the integrity of elections here in our state—proud about the system that we’ve created together. And I want everyone to know how elections work in Washington. So please, like, comment, and share this video breakdown with your friends and family.
As always, I am honored to serve as your Senator.
-LW
Sources
- https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2022/07/26/misinformation-is-eroding-the-publics-confidence-in-democracy/
- https://www.odni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ICA-declass-16MAR21.pdf
- https://www.sos.state.nm.us/voting-and-elections/voter-information-portal/rumor-vs-reality/
- https://www.ppic.org/publication/vote-by-mail-and-voter-turnout-in-the-pandemic-election/
- https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/election-security.aspx
- https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/acs-5year.html
- https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/number-of-registered-voters-by-state
