Political parties continue to challenge top-2 primary

The Democrat, Republican and Libertarian parties have continued their court battle to try to get the top two primary system removed in the state.
The political parties, along with Washington State Grange, had sued the state in district court.
According to court documents, Judge John Coughenour ruled that the parties can challenge how the top two primary is applied and if alleged confusion from the application of the primary takes away from the party's right to associate.
According to the Secretary of State blog, the ruling opens up a new round of litigation on how the state conducts the top two primary.
The top 2 primary, which was implemented last year, was upheld earlier by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Reardon vetoes end of FCCs

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon vetoed the ordinance that would have eliminated fully-contained communities (FCC) from the county code Monday.
The Snohomish County Council passed the ordinance 3 to 2, with Councilmen John Koster and Dave Gossett dissenting. Four county council members would have to approve the ordinance to override the veto.
"Eliminating the FCC policies will not prevent population growth from occurring in Snohomish County," Reardon wrote in a Monday memo. "Instead, eliminating these policies will drive that population into traditional development where developers cannot legally be held to the same stringent standards for economic development, land set-asides and infrastructure that may be required in an FCC."

For the full story, pick up a copy of the Sept. 8 Stanwood/Camano NEWS, or visit www.scnews.com after noon on Sept. 8.

Ref. 71 makes it on Nov. ballot

It appears that Referendum 71, which, if approved, would overturn the state's new domestic partnership law, will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
According to the Secretary of State blog, the unofficial results of 121,617 valid signatures would qualify the motion for the general election. The sponsor of the referendum, Protect Marriage Washington, needed 120,577 signatures for the referendum to make it on the ballot.
The signature counting of the referendum is currently being challenged in King County Superior Court, with an expected ruling sometime today.
In a press release, Gov. Christine Gregoire said, “I respect the peoples’ right to place a referendum on the ballot following legislative action. However, I am obviously very disappointed that this message will be debated once again. I signed the original bill and believe it should be and will be the law of our great state. Washington state has a history of fighting to ensure everyone – mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters – enjoys equal rights.”

Count continues on Referendum 71 signatures

The state predicts it will finish verifying the signatures submitted by those who want to place a referendum overturning the state's domestic partnership law Sept. 1.
Protect Marriage Washington submitted 137,689 signatures. Of the 117,069 that have been reviewed, 103,198 have been accepted, and 13,871 have been rejected, according to the Secretary of State Web site.
For the referendum to make it onto the Nov. 3 ballot, 120,577 valid signatures are necessary. That means of the 20,620 signatures that remain to verify, 17,379 of them need to be determined valid for the referendum to have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Protect Marriage Washington aims to overturn SB 5688, passed into law in the most recent legislative session.
The implementation of the law is on hold until Referendum 71 is settled. Some of the things the law does is give domestic partners the same right to visit their partner in the hospital as a spouse would and permits a partner to receive benefits similar as a spouse, according to RCW 26.60.

Island County finishes ballot counting

Island County has posted its final preliminary results from the Aug. 18 primary.
The Island Transit sales tax increase seems to have passed with 55 percent in favor. Camano Island Fire and Rescue's fire levy lid increase failed with 51.8 percent against it, while it's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) levy passed with 63 percent in support of it.
Voter turnout in the county ended at about 54 percent.
Results didn't change much in the Snohomish County Council district 1 race, with incumbent John Koster (R), Arlington at 58.9 percent, and Ellen Hiatt Watson (D), Lake Howard, at 40.5 percent. Both candidates will continue on to the Nov. 3 general election.
Snohomish County's voter turnout was about 24 percent. The county has not indicated whether or not it has any ballots left to tally. If it does, the results wouldn't be posted until Sept. 1, according to the county auditor's Web site.
Counties certify their primary results by Sept. 2, and then the Secretary of State has to declare the results official.

Primary results remain the same

Last night's update of the primary results in Island and Snohomish counties kept the percentages the same. The next update for both counties is tonight at 5 p.m.
Thus far, voter turnout in Island County is at about 50 percent, whereas only 21 percent of voters returned ballots in Snohomish County. Island County estimates it has about 1,200 ballots left to count, while Snohomish County does not provide a similar estimate.

Island County results are available at http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/island/Elections/ElectionResults/currentElectionresults/Pages/ElectionResults.aspx and Snohomish County results are at http://www.snoco.org/elections/results/ecurrent.htm.

Preliminary Primary results

Island and Snohomish counties have begun posting preliminary election results from yesterday's primary.
For Snohomish County Council district 1 position, which serves the Stanwood area, incumbent John Koster (R), of Arlington, is in the lead with 58.8 percent, with Ellen Hiatt Watson (D), of Lake Howard, at 40.7 percent. However, the future council member will be decided by general election, and not primary election, results.
In Island County, three ballot measures will be decided by primary election results.
Camano Island Fire and Rescue's levy lid lift for its fire levy is thus far failing with 51.7 percent of voters against it, and 48.3 percent of voters in favor. Passing a levy lid lift requires a simple majority of votes approving the measure.
Camano Island Fire and Rescue's renewal of the EMS levy looks like it will be approved, with 62.6 percent in favor, and only 37.4 percent opposing. A levy needs approval from at least 60 percent of the votes cast.
Island Transit's request for a sales tax increase will also likely pass. It needs a simple majority, and currently has it with 54.7 percent in favor, and only 45.3 percent against.
Both counties still have ballots that need to be tallied. Counties do not certify results until Sept. 2, and the results are not official until the Secretary of State has certified the results.

Both Island and Snohomish counties have election results available online. To see the results, visit www.snoco.org/elections/results/ecurrent.htm for Snohomish County or http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/island/Elections/ElectionResults/currentElectionresults/Pages/ElectionResults.aspx for Island County, or stay tuned to this blog.