News

The Office of the Secretary of State (OSOS) will be represented at PAX West in Seattle from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2, 2024. To join in the festivities and fun, head to booth 134 to learn more about how our office supports communities statewide through civic education and elections, preserving state … Read more

OLYMPIA — Today, the Office of the Secretary of State certified candidates and ballot measures to the Nov. 5 General Election, establishing the slate of choices to appear on ballots this fall.

In addition to voting for U.S. president, eligible Washington voters will decide between the top two candidates for one U.S. Senate seat, nine statewide executives, and numerous congressional, legislative, judicial, and local races when ballots are mailed in October.

“The certification of candidates to the general election marks a critical step in our electoral process,” Assistant… Read more

OLYMPIA — The Office of the Secretary of State certified the August 6 Primary results Thursday and directed a mandatory manual recount of all votes for the statewide Commissioner of Public Lands race. County election offices are estimating the recount will take seven business days to complete.

In the 2024 Commissioner of Public Lands primary contest, Democrat Dave Upthegrove defeated Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson for second place 396,300 votes to 396,249 votes — a difference of 51 (0.0064%). The candidate with the second-most votes following the statewide recount will… Read more

OLYMPIA — Nine presidential nominations by minor parties and independent candidates have qualified to appear on Washington’s Nov. 5 General Election ballot. The Office of the Secretary of State issued letters Tuesday to notify each nominating group of its qualification. Including nominees from the two major political parties, Washington voters will be able to choose from 11 pairs of nominees for president and vice president on the November ballot.

To qualify for the General Election ballot, a minor party or independent candidate must obtain 1,000 signatures from… Read more

OLYMPIA — Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs urges Washington’s voters to be wary of dubious election information, including deepfakes and other misinformation, that have already been spotted during the 2024 elections cycle.

“As we move through Washington’s August 6 Primary and toward the November 5 General Election, I am concerned that a deluge of manipulated and false information may be inserted into social media from foreign actors and other sources,” Secretary Hobbs said. “Artificial Intelligence is getting easier and cheaper to manipulate for a broad number of… Read more

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Library, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s Wisconsin State Library Agency, has been awarded a $249,500 National Leadership Grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for developing games-based library services. 

The Washington State Library’s “Empowering & Innovating Games-based Library Services: National Best Practices for Gaming Collections & Programming” project will span three years and will… Read more

OLYMPIA — The Washington state Combined Fund Drive (CFD), a charitable giving program administered by the Office of the Secretary of State, is celebrating 40 years of helping state employees and retirees contribute to philanthropic causes.   

The CFD is Washington state’s workplace-giving program for active and retired public employees. Public employees of state government and higher-education institutions donate through CFD to the charity of their… Read more

OLYMPIA — In the second year of a statewide funding program to help counties improve their elections security, the Washington state Office of the Secretary of State has provided approximately $2 million to 29 elections offices statewide, with final calculations pending.

The program’s third year of funding is now open. As in prior years, each county’s elections office can receive up to $80,000 to pay for improvements to local election security.

“County election officials and employees around the state work hard to ensure our election systems are fair and… Read more

OLYMPIA — Signature verification has been completed and certified by the Office of the Secretary of State for the following Initiative to the People:

The signatures have been verified by the Office of the Secretary of State Elections Division using a state-mandated process of examining a 3% random sample of submitted signatures. Sponsors of I-2066 submitted 533,005 signatures in support of the initiative. A review of the random sample of 15,991 signatures… Read more

OLYMPIA — The Washington state Office of the Secretary of State (OSOS) has invested in a large-scale campaign to highlight the safety and security of the state’s vote-by-mail process ahead of Washington’s August primary and November general election. Created with agency partner Happylucky, the campaign uses stylized, rooted-in-place imagery and animation to promote the integrity of a process that has enabled accessible and secure voting throughout Washington for more than a decade. This campaign’s positive messaging helps all Washington voters understand how vote-by-mail works, celebrate… Read more