Ballots for the November 6th election will begin arriving in the mail around the 19^th of October. If you are overseas with the military, it will likely be even sooner.  The POST wants you all to be informed voters so this is an article jam packed with links for you to get to know the details involved in the elections and the candidates running for office.

Right now is the time to make certain your registration information is up to date or to get registered. The Washington Secretary of State has a handy link for voters to confirm, register or update their registration. If you haven’t voted in a long time, you can make sure you are still registered there as well. If you have been ill or had an injury that affected the appearance of your signature, those are matched when you return your ballot. You should file an updated card to make sure there is no doubt you cast your ballot.

People who have been convicted of a felony have their voting rights taken away in our state. Those who have completed their sentence and paid their fines can have their voting rights restored. Here is a link to the procedure for restoring voting rights. Here is a printable flyer on voting rights restoration.

Voting in Pierce County is handled through the Pierce County Auditor’s Office where they have an elections page. The Auditor has more specific information on voting and restoring voting rights in Pierce County. The Auditor’s Elections Division also has maps of various jurisdictions like city and school district boundaries. Congressional and Legislative boundaries have recently been changed due to the census results. Pierce County is now part of a new Congressional District (CD), the tenth in the state. The change reflects the growth our state has had compared to other parts of the USA.

Much of Parkland was changed from the 5^th County Council District to the 6^th. Spanaway was moved from the 25^th and 2^nd Legislative Districts to the 29^th. Elk Plain has an unusual map boundary and is now part of the 28^th Legislative District with a small portion of Roy north of Muck Creek. Everything north of 224^th Street is no longer in the 9th Congressional District with Adam Smith. That area is in the new 10^th CD where Denny Heck (D) and Dick Muri (R) are running. When you need help, you might be calling different legislators than you did last year.

Washington has an On-Line Voter’s Guide where you can read the candidate’s statements and learn more about what this election means to you. If you want to know more about incumbents and how they have been voting, you  will want to look up their record on the Washington Votes site. If you want to follow the money for a candidate, the Washington Public Disclosure Commission is the place to look for state and local races. The Federal Elections Commission is the place to look for the Congressional national races.