Washington
Ballot Security
What Politicians Say
In the most direct response to the Jan. 6 attacks from a state legislature, Democratic Governor Jay Inslee sought to make lying about election results a crime.
The bill would have made it a gross misdemeanor for elected officials and political candidates to lie “knowingly, recklessly, or maliciously” about the results of an election if the false claims led to violence or were made to undermine voter confidence.
The proposal was not just about national politics.
On Jan. 6, Trump supporters in Olympia breached the gates of the governor’s mansion and chanted slogans on the lawn, leading Inslee to leave for a secure area.
His 2020 Republican opponent, Loren Culp, also refused to concede his 13-point loss and filed a lawsuit alleging fraud by the GOP secretary of state. He later withdrew the lawsuit.
Inslee personally testified in support of the bill, which drew national attention, but it died in the state Senate amid concerns about freedom of speech.
Ease of Voting
In 2021, the state made minor changes to a law requiring early voting centers in each county, made it illegal to set up a fake ballot drop box and automatically restored voting rights to ex-felons upon their release from prison.
Ballot Security
Lawmakers made only minor changes to the state’s popular all-mail elections, exempting voter signatures and information about election security from public records law.
How Politicians Responded to the 2020 Election
Two of Washington’s three Republican US representatives signed an amicus brief in support of a Texas lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to intervene in the election.