From Our Corner

5 Questions: What is a tax advisory vote?

Confused by the five tax advisory Our Election Division and the legislative hotline are getting lots of calls on

Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, Read On!

The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library located in downtown Seattle, is a free and comprehensive library service dedicated to providing an array of services to Washington residents unable to read standard print material. These include the blind, visually impaired, legally blind, deaf-blind, physically disabled, those who can’t comfortably hold a book or turn pages and those who are reading disabled. Any genre you can think of, WTBBL has it! Users of the library can check out… Read more

Library Jewel #3: "Lost County" Maps

Image Ever heard of Ferguson county? Probably not, mainly because it doesn’t exist. It’s the only county that was lost during our state’s territorial years. Believe it or not, the area that is now Yakima and Kittitas counties used to be… Read more

2013 Primary: Registration deadline July 8

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“Archives treasure” #2: ferries photos, docs (not docks)

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(Photos courtesy of Washington State Archives.)

One of the unique characteristics of Puget Sound is the fleet of ferry boats used to carry passengers, vehicles and bikes across the sound. In fact, these famous ferry boats have been used to… Read more

State Library hosts “Wolves of Washington” event tonight

Here's how signature check for R-74 works ...

How does the signature check for a referendum work, and what is the impact of a referendum challenge on the effective date of the recently enacted legislation (SB6239) authorizing civil marriage for same-sex couples? The deadline for turning in Referendum 74 petitions to the State Elections Division is Wednesday, June 6. Ordinarily, the marriage bill would be taking effect Thursday, June 7, but if opponents… Read more

No initiative to the people will be on ballot this fall

Image For the first year since 1989, an initiative to the people won’t be placed before Washington voters. Friday, July 5, is the deadline for initiative sponsors to submit signatures to our… Read more

From the Archives: historic logging photos

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(Photos courtesy Washington State Digital Archives)

Logging is one of the industries that helped literally build Washington and put it on the map during its territorial days more than a century ago. While… Read more

Ready, Set, Vote!

Back for its 9th year is the Washington State Mock Election! The Mock Election is a non-partisan educational program that gives students a taste of what it's like to research issues and "vote." The hope is that students will enjoy the experience and will look forward to getting registered and participating when they turn 18. Voting is free and quite simple. Anytime between Monday, Oct. 28, and noon on Nov. 1 students can go online to cast their vote. Students in grades K-12 will "vote… Read more

Washington Counties, oh how they have changed!

Image On November 11th, 1889 Washington was declared the forty-second state by President Benjamin Harrison. Well, it’s 124 years later and oh so much has happened in our beautiful Evergreen State! The construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, eruption of Mount… Read more

Veterans Day

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As the anticipation of a three day weekend approaches, the Office of the Secretary of State remembers the reason why Monday is a federal holiday- to actively honor our… Read more

Vote for your favorite “Archives Treasure”

Nowadays, we have opinion polls on just about everything. Not wanting to miss the poll train, we’re offering you a chance to sound off on some of our State Archives’ many interesting documents, collections, photos and other historical gems. Starting this month, we’re featuring various “Archives Treasures.” Over the past few days, we’ve showcased three of these treasures for viewing. The first “contestant” is the state boxing license applications submitted by heavyweight legends Muhammad Ali… Read more

And how good is your information literacy?

Secretary of State Wyman is proud to announce that October is National Information Literacy Awareness Month in our state. Wyman promotes libraries throughout Washington, and her office includes the Washington State Library, as well as the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library. “It’s a good month to thank a librarian and a good month to celebrate the gift of knowledge and literacy,” Wyman said. Gov. Jay… Read more

SecWyman visits Boeing's Everett plant

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Rich White, Boeing's State & Local Government Relations manager for the NW Region, shows Secretary Wyman one of the planes being built at Everett facility. (Photos courtesy of Boeing)

When some of the world's most… Read more

Bird's-eye view from Capitol in 1950s

From Your Corner of Washington: Capitol Lake

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(Photo courtesy of Jeff Martin)

The view of Capitol Lake and the Olympia waterfront from the Capitol Campus is always scenic, even more so on a sunny day… Read more

From the Archives: Apples!

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(Photo courtesy of Washington State Digital Archives)

For many people, Washington means apples. In fact, for many years our state has been the top apple producer in the nation and a top exporter… Read more

WA Election 2014 gets underway officially soon

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Snagging Millennial: An OSOS, Foley Institute

It's a familiar, but vexing topic among election administrators across Washington and America: how do you engage "Millennials," those 18 to 30-ish, in public life and voting? The sector typically votes at lower levels than their elders. Secretary of State Kim Wyman, a veteran of state, local and national election reform efforts, and a panel of experts tried it on for size Friday at a Capitol forum sponsored by Wyman, the Foley Institute for Public Policy & Public Service, and the Henry… Read more