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Washington State is making strides to increase access to the election process and promote more equal representation. Last week, Governor Jay Inslee and Secretary of State Kim Wyman jointly announced they had secured funding for statewide ballot return postage in 2018 Primary and General Elections. Inslee said, quote” Because Washington is a vote-by-mail state, pre-paid postage is one important way we can reduce barriers to casting ballots.”

On Monday, the Governor signed an additional five bills, dubbed the “Access to Democracy package”, to improve voter access and strengthen democracy in Washington state. Three of the bills make it easier to register to vote, allowing people to register up to and on Election Day, letting 16- and 17-year-olds pre-register to vote, and creating automatic voter registration for citizens obtaining enhanced driver’s licenses or identification cards through the Department of Licensing.

Inslee also signed the Washington Voting Rights Act which will allow district-based elections or other alternative voting systems instead of at-large elections to promote more equal representation of individual communities. Lastly, Inslee has signed the DISCLOSE Act this week,, a bill that requires nonprofit organizations that donate more than $10,000 a year to political campaigns to register with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission and publicly report their contributions.

The Washington Department of Licensing announced policy changes to the types of information the department collects. Earlier this year it shared information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement including social security numbers.

The revelation prompted Governor Inslee to call on leaders in the legislature to investigate the DOL’s data-sharing. Policy changes include the removal of Social Security numbers from DOL’s law-enforcement data sharing system and the removal of information related to legal status or birth place.

In our last story, Companion bills in Congress aim to increase oversight and put a moratorium on the additional construction of immigration detention centers. Eric Tegethoff of the Washington News Service Reports.

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