With the 2019 General Election certified, we are looking ahead to 2020. My office will be conducting six elections in the coming year, including a presidential primary on March 10. This will be the first year in state history the presidential primary will occur earlier in the year, meaning Washingtonians will be able to have a greater voice in the two major political parties’ nomination process for the office of U.S. President.
To learn more about the 2020 Washington State Presidential Primary, click here.
As I reflect on 2019, our office accomplished a number of significant endeavors. We:

• Launched VoteWA, our statewide elections management system that consolidated systems across the state and elevated our election security.
• Implemented automatic and same-day voter registration, making our elections even more accessible to Washingtonians.
• Worked with the Legislature to advance our state’s presidential primary to March.
• Got funding approved for a new Library-Archives Building, which will allow us to preserve our state’s historical treasures in a new state-of-the-art facility.  
• Opened our Ahead of the Curve exhibit, Legacy Washington’s latest venture celebrating the pioneering spirit of some larger-than-life women in Washington history.
• Expanded outreach and capacity in the Address Confidentiality Program.

We are looking forward to many more projects and successes in the coming year.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season. See you in 2020!

Sincerely, 

On Dec. 2, I met with Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib to formally certify the statewide results for the 2019 General Election. I’m grateful for the dedicated election officials from all 39 counties who worked tirelessly alongside our team and the new VoteWA system to help process the successfully cast ballots of 2,061,588 voters, a turnout of 45.8%.

With this election in the books, we’re turning our attention to 2020. A major emphasis in the coming year will be elections security. I sat down with Mike McClanahan of TVW’s The Impact to discuss election system upgrades related to voter registration, the near real-time capabilities of VoteWA, and the ongoing focus on cybersecurity. You can view the segment on YouTube or by clicking below.

In an ongoing effort to help Washingtonians prevent charity fraud, I joined AARP Washington to spread the word on ways to detect scams. In November, AARP Washington State Director Doug Shadel and I participated in a telephone town hall for AARP members, during which I shared our office’s tips and best practices for donors. Then earlier this month, I joined Doug again on KING TV’s New Day NW to share more charitable giving information and resources.

You can watch the segment here.

Scammers are active all year round, but the holidays are an especially opportune time for bad actors to take advantage of donors.

Equip yourself with the tools and information that could save you from falling victim to a scam by checking out our GiveSmart tips here.

In November, I had the pleasure of hosting some special guests at the Capitol. During the 2019 Corporations for Communities awards ceremony, I presented five Washington companies from across the state with the National Association of Secretaries of State Medallion and special awards to two other companies for their outstanding contributions to their communities.

These organizations truly go above and beyond to help those in need, and I was honored to celebrate their efforts.

To learn more about these companies and the work they do to give back to their communities, click here.