Voters' Pamphlet (Pierce County version)

October 19, 2016

'Watershed year': WA voting season under way

Washington’s 2016 Election voting period is under way, with counties mailing nearly 4.2 million ballots and awaiting a robust turnout of at least 80 percent.

A handful of counties sent ballots on Tuesday and nearly all the rest were scheduled to go out Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is the deadline for outbound mail. Deadline for a postmark is Election Day, Nov. 8, and drop boxes may be used before 8 p.m. that day.

A record 4,250,526 Washington residents are registered. About 72,000 military and overseas ballots were mailed by Sept. 24.

“We are seeing exceptional interest in this presidential-year election,” said Secretary of State Kim Wyman. “Since April, more than 250,000 new voters have registered, including an unprecedented surge of 50,000 just before this month’s deadline for online, motor voter and mail-in registration.

“There really is something for everyone in this election. We have perhaps the most fascinating and unpredictable presidential race in history, with 24-7 news coverage. We also face the largest number of ballot measures ever, plus the big Sound Transit vote in three Puget Sound counties. The ballot also features congressional races, the fight for control of both houses of the Legislature, all nine statewide offices, the judiciary and many local races and propositions.

“This really is a watershed year in this country and this state and I urge every registered voter to take part. This is the prime opportunity for every voice to be heard.”

Wyman stressed that despite recent reports of Russian attempts to hack state election systems and attacks on “rigged” elections, “We have full and complete confidence in the integrity of our system. Elections professionals will treat every voted ballot will great care and security. Every vote will be tabulated as the voter intended.”

The state is working with cybersecurity experts and independent reviewers to make sure the system remains secure, and county tabulation systems are air-gapped and not hooked up to the Internet, said state Elections Director Lori Augino.

“We have multiple layers of security, both physical and electronic,” Wyman said.

Wyman and many county auditors are recommending that the 2017 Legislature adopt REAL ID legislation that will give election administrators a tool for assuring that voters who register document their citizenship, as required by state and federal law.

Although the presidential race has drawn much of the media and voter interest, voters will also choose the governor and other statewide elected officials. Five of the incumbents are not seeking re-election: lieutenant governor, treasurer, auditor, lands commissioner and superintendent of public instruction. For the first time, a statewide race will feature two finalists from the same party. Republican candidates for State Treasurer finished 1-2 in the Top 2 August Primary and advanced.

Voters statewide will ballot for U.S. Senate seat and a 10 U.S. House seats are up this year, including the 7th District, where the dean of the state delegation, Jim McDermott, is retiring and two Democrats emerged from the Top 2 Primary. In the 4th District, two Republicans are the finalists.

Most of the Legislature is on the ballot, too, including all 98 House seats and 26 of the 49 Senate positions.

Three state Supreme Court races are on the ballot, as are other judicial posts. Six citizen initiatives await, including minimum wage, carbon tax, gun restrictions under “extreme risk” protection orders, campaign finance reform, identity protection for seniors and vulnerable individuals, and challenge of the Citizens United ruling. A constitutional amendment would set an earlier deadline for future redistricting. Two tax advisory votes also await.

The Elections Division recently mailed Voters’ Pamphlets to 3.3 million households in 32 zoned editions.

Looking for other ways to study the candidates and ballot measures?

  • MyVote – Visit www.myvote.wa.gov to view your candidates and ballot measures.
  • Online Voters’ Guide – View all state candidates and ballot measures online at MyVote.wa.gov. There are versions in English, Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese, as well as an audio version of the Voters’ Pamphlet.
  • Video Voters’ Guide – Our Elections Division and TVW have again teamed up to offer the 2016 Video Voters Guide, which includes statements by candidates for federal and statewide offices, as well as the three state Supreme Court positions on the ballot, and pro and con arguments on the statewide ballot measures.

September 30, 2016

Secretary Wyman, auditors propose election reforms

Secretary of State Kim Wyman and county election leaders today announced a bipartisan proposal to clear the way to check for citizenship of people who want to register and vote in Washington. 

At a news conference in Spokane, Wyman and county partners proposed legislation for the upcoming session that would adopt the REAL ID Act for Washington. That would mean people would have to present citizenship verification to get a driver’s license, and election administrators could then do a citizenship check at the front end of the process.

The package also includes a plan for automatic voter registration of those who provide documentation of citizenship, with an opt-out provision. Oregon currently runs such a program. Without a citizenship check, that’s not possible in Washington, since both state and federal law ban registration and voting by non-citizens.

“Our package is reasonable; it’s long overdue,” said Wyman, the state’s chief elections officer.  “Our current laws are not working the way we need them to.”

During this past week, questions were raised about the citizenship of Arcan Cetin, who confessed to murdering five people at Cascade Mall in Burlington. He registered in 2014 and voted in three elections. On each of those occasions, he affirmed that he was a U.S. citizen and met the other qualifications to be a voter. The penalty of registration and voter fraud is a prison term of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

“This issue pales in comparison to the tragedy of five innocent lives lost. But when the citizenship of Mr. Cetin was publicly called into question as part of the story, it shined a bright light on the fact that under current state law, as election administrators, we are not able to confirm the citizenship of any registered voter,” Wyman said.

“This week’s situation has highlighted a problem with current law. We need to verify citizenship and the other requirements for voting at the beginning of the voter registration process - rather than retroactively scrutinizing individual registrations through a lens of partisanship or events, like those of this past week.

Following action in New Mexico recently, Washington is now one of only three states that have not moved to comply with the federal REAL ID Act. States that are in compliance collect and track citizenship information at their driver’s license agencies, and can screen the data for non-citizens.

“That’s the way our laws read, and, no, it doesn’t make sense!” Wyman said. “The Department of Licensing is not authorized or directed by state law to require this.  The Secretary of State and the auditors of Washington are not permitted to demand proof of citizenship – and so there is no way to verify.

“I find this completely unacceptable.  Our laws are not working the way they need them to. We need to construct laws and processes to verify voter eligibility on the front end of the voter registration application. We are here today to propose some sensible and concrete solutions to correct this problem. The time for action is now. People are understandably frustrated about this situation and we are frustrated as well. It’s time for action in the January session.”

Wyman noted that the federal REAL ID Act of 2005 is the law of the land and the Department of Homeland Security has been pressuring every state to comply. DHS has announced that Washington will not be granted additional waivers and that beginning in 2018, state residents will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or ID card to board a domestic flight.

“Once we have done the citizenship check, and we can verify all four requirements for voter eligibility, we would automatically register these voters, with an opt-out provision,” she said. “Many have urged us to enact automatic voter registration – like we have seen in Oregon, California and a few other states. Without a citizenship check, I’m unwilling to support that concept. However, if we can verify all four requirements of voter eligibility, why wouldn’t we register these people?

“The people of Washington and their election administrators across the state want to assure that only citizens who meet the requirements to vote are registering and voting. I look forward to working with auditors, elections directors and administrators, legislators, all of our stakeholders, and the Governor to enact these changes.”

Wyman was joined by a number of county auditors, Democrats, Republicans and nonpartisan, in calling for the reforms.

September 20, 2016

Secretary Wyman: WA election system is secure

Some may have been understandably alarmed by reports that Arizona and Illinois election systems were recently targeted for a breach, that Russians are suspected of hacking American emails, and that campaigns on the left and the right speak darkly of “rigged” elections.

As Secretary of State and chief administrator of elections here in Washington state, I too am troubled by the political rhetoric of those who are intentionally trying to undermine public confidence in elections.

However, I have tremendous confidence in the cybersecurity of the election system in our state. My office continually works with each of our state’s 39 counties to ensure Washington’s election system is safe and secure, by adding multiple layers of protection and strategies recommended by the best minds in cybersecurity. We have begun a new partnership with Homeland Security as part of our vigilant defense.

Our counties, under the supervision of independently elected auditors, operate election management systems that allow them to verify and tabulate ballots. As the most fundamental component of security, none of the tabulation systems are ever connected to the Internet.

In addition to “air gapping” every county election tabulation system, Washington also uses security procedures and safeguards recommended by foremost security experts. Examples of that rigor:

  • Utilizing paper-based systems with a verifiable paper audit trail.
  • Independent testing of systems and security is ongoing. Security experts have done full reviews.
  • Pre- and post-election tests and audits are required.
  • Strict security is provided for all tabulation equipment.
Before a tabulation system can be used in Washington, we require testing at a federally approved lab, including security reviews. Systems are also tested here at the state level and reviewed by an expert certification board.

Counties must perform logic and accuracy testing before every election, and it’s open to the public. Post-election audits also test the system by using randomly selected precincts and races to see if vote totals from the tabulator match a hand count.

Counties have approved tabulation security plans in place and on file with our office.

Significantly, we have a paper-based voting system that allows election officials to see first-hand the voter’s intent. We can go back to the paper ballot and hand count a race when the outcome is very close. We have an audit trail from start to finish, with every ballot.

Washington has a longstanding practice of working closely with IT and security experts to regularly review, identify, and correct any vulnerabilities with our technical systems. 

In addition to watching over the security of tabulation systems, Washington goes to great lengths to secure other vital systems, including the Voter Registration Database and Washington Elections Information.

All election systems are protected by state-of-the-art Intrusion Prevention Systems and firewalls. Our system security brief is posted on our Elections & Voting website: http://tinyurl.com/hkvywgm

We remain vigilant, of course, to any cyber threats and are working closely with the Department of Homeland Security, Elections Assistance Commission, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Justice. We recently had an update from these key agencies, and will continue to be alert to potential threats and vulnerabilities, and will implement new best practices as they are developed.

Additionally we are working with the Department of Homeland Security in a new and unprecedented way -- elections experts and IT experts working together, hand-in-hand, to ensure our systems remain secure. Together, we will assess vulnerabilities, share information about threats, and have boots-on-the-ground cyber-security and physical security support here in Washington. Working together in this way demonstrates Washington’s leadership and serves as a model for other states.

Voter confidence in our election system – its fairness, accuracy and security -- is paramount to our self-government and to a robust turnout. Ballots go out to our 4.1 million voters next month, and I hope every registered voter will take part.