First thing’s first: Tomorrow is the deadline for voting. Mail your ballot, hand deliver it … whatever it takes. We have an excellent video voter guide and Q&As with each of the initiative and referendum sponsors and opponents.

Also: Right now on TVW, you can watch the Quality Education Council — the group charged with trying to figure out how to improve Washington’s public schools. Find out more here. And watch now.

Tags: elections, QEC, voting

Today is the deadline for voter registration — if you aren’t already registered. But: You must register in-person in order to be eligible to vote next week.

Where should you go? Your county elections office. Find a map here.

Then watch TVW’s video voter guide to get up-to-speed on the issues:

Tags: deadline, elections, voting

If you want to vote on Nov. 4, you need to be registered by midnight tonight.

How? It’s very easy: First, go here to check whether you are, in fact, registered. Then, if you’re not (or if you need to update your address), go here.

Don’t forget — deadline is midnight tonight (or new voters can register in-person at your county office until Oct. 26). Also: The online registration site was down for a bit this morning, but it’s back up and working now. We’ll let you know if any other failures occur.

And while we’re on the subject of voting, don’t miss TVW’s video voter guide — hear the opponents and supporters speak on issues in their own words.

Tags: elections, voting

Last week, a lawsuit was filed in Washington Supreme Court that alleges the secrecy of ballots is compromised by the bar codes that some counties use.

Their claim: The companies who track the ballots can use the data to find out how exactly how you voted, which is illegal.

The Secretary of State’s Office, however, said that’s bogus: They compared it to tracking numbers on packages that allow people to make sure the package is en route, but not decipher what’s inside the box.

The Supreme Court hasn’t yet decided whether they’ll take the case. Brad Shannon has some great reporting on the issue here, and here’s a story by The Daily World.

Tags: voting

I was surprised to open last week’s edition of The Economist to find this story, which begins with the line: “We in Washington state ‘get our business done.’” (The quote is from Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown.)

The article focuses on how politically moderate this state is and attributes it to the voting system. It’s an interesting perspective — an international magazine’s take on Washington’s politics compared to our neighbor states.

Update: And here’s a blog post by the folks in the Secretary of State’s Office (their blog, From Our Corner, is a must-read) on the same article.

Tags: politics, press, voting

This just in from Dave Ammons, communications director for the Secretary of State: “Just one day after Governor Gregoire signed the bill dealing with the state’s Electoral College votes being committed to the national popular vote winner, a critic has filed a referendum to try to force a public vote this fall.”

According to Ammons, David Anderson from Shaw Island is not on the hunt for 120,577 valid voter signatures. He has until July 25.

Coincidentally, I’ve been working feverishly today on the “Legislative Year in Review” show, which includes a segment on this bill. Here’s a refresher:

Tags: voting

That and many other questions will be answered (and/or addressed) in tonight’s edition of The Impact. Here’s what host Jennifer Huntley has to say about it:

It’s down to the last couple of days for the 2009 Legislative session. A deal may be imminent on the budget. Will lawmakers get out on time? We’ll talk with members of the media and get their thoughts on what will happen as session winds down.

Also – should felons be allowed to vote if they haven’t paid their legal fees? That and some other voting measures are making their way through the Legislature. We’ll detail how the voting rules would change and talk with lawmakers on both sides of this issue.

And a sales tax proposal is getting a lot of attention this last week. It would buy back some of the cuts to healthcare in the budget. But does it have the votes to pass in the House and Senate and go to voters? We’ll talk with Representative Eric Pettigrew, who is sponsoring the legislation in the House and Senator Cheryl Pflug in the Senate.

The Impact will air during a break in floor session this evening and anytime online at www.tvw.org And I’ll post it here as soon as it’s available!

Tags: Budget, healthcare, The Impact, voting

Right now, the Senate is debating a bill that would allow felons who have served their prison sentence to vote. Currently, felons can vote if they’ve paid their legal financial obligations.

Sen. Lisa Brown said current law isn’t fair. She had a family member who served prison time and turned their life around. “The point here are people who have served their time and are back trying to build a new life, and for us to say, You don’t count any more in our democratic process seems highly unpatriotic to me.”

“I don’t think the county clerks are going to like this bill … I don’t think the victims are going to like this bill,” said Sen. Tim Sheldon.

Sen. Jim Hargrove said the Senate already voted on the issue two years ago, on an offender re-entry bill. He said he thinks the current system is a reasonable approach.

Sen. Pam Roach said serving time does not mean one has repaid their debts to society. “The people do not want people voting on automatic restoration,” she said.

Sen. Dan Swecker: “We have the amendment that says the victim is still the priority … felons who have their voting rights restored are less likely to recidivate and they are also more likely to make victim restitution.”

The bill passed 29 to 19.

Tags: voting

Since I wrote the last post about what happened today, the House and Senate have done so much more. Tomorrow’s show is subject to change. Here’s a few things that might appear:

- A bill to require all-mail voting. This really only applies to Pierce County, since they’re the only county that still has polls open.

- A bill allowing child care workers to unionize.

- A bill that would require local projects that receive state money to adopt policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Tags: local projects, union, voting

While you’re watching this on your computer, turn your TV to TVW. Right now, we have the House State Government Committee considering a bill to elect the President by popular vote — and this on the one-year anniversary of Super Tuesday. One guest said it could nationalize voter fraud.

Tags: TVW, voting