On Tuesday, the campaigning stops and the final day of voting begins in one of the most heated election seasons in recent memory.
The state’s 3.4 million registered voters, including thousands who will be voting for the first time, will choose a president in a race that may be as close as 2000 and, like four years ago, require the courts to settle.
Also, state voters will install a new governor and potentially reset the balance of power in the Legislature.
In Snohomish County, the election will send new people into legislative service and decide the fate of local measures ranging from a library construction bond in Stanwood to emergency medical service levies in Mill Creek, Darrington and several fire districts.
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. However, if you are in line by 8 p.m., you will be allowed to vote.
Secretary of State Sam Reed is predicting a near-record 85 percent voter turnout statewide. Snohomish County Auditor Bob Terwilliger expects the same turnout in the county, with about 62 percent of the voters casting absentee ballots.
Igniting most of the voter interest is the slugfest between President Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry. Early on, Washington enjoyed quite a bit of attention from both candidates because it was identified as one of 17 battleground states on which the final outcome could hinge.
In September, with Kerry sustaining a comfortable lead in statewide polls, the Bush campaign withdrew and pundits predicted Washington, with its 11 Electoral College votes, would go for Kerry.
With the downshifting of presidential campaigning in the state, other statewide races have steered into the spotlight, topped by Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray’s duel with Republican challenger Rep. George Nethercutt.
Also emerging was the race for governor between Democratic Attorney General Christine Gregoire and Republican former state Sen. Dino Rossi.
If Murray and Gregoire win, it would make Washington the first state to have women in the offices of governor and both U.S. Senate seats. Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell is not up for re-election this year.
If Rossi wins, he would be the first Republican governor since John Spellman from 1981-85.
Four local members of the state House of Representatives are not returning, assuring that new people will be chosen to serve the residents of Snohomish, Island and northern King counties.
Rep. David Simpson, D-Everett, will not return to the 38th District seat after a loss in the primary. The retirements of Jeanne Edwards, D-Bothell, and Barry Sehlin, R-Oak Harbor, opened up posts in the 1st and 10th districts. And Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds, vacated his seat in the 21st District to run for commissioner of public lands.
The results of those elections could affect the strength of the two parties in the 98-member House. Democrats outnumber Republicans 52-46, and each side hopes to gain on the other.
In the state Senate, Republicans hold a 25-24 edge on the Democrats, with 25 seats up for election and leaders of both parties predicting they will have a majority when the election dust settles.
The statewide initiatives on the ballot deal with major policy issues on voting, education, taxes, gambling and nuclear waste.
Initiative 872 would revamp how the primary is run. It would restore voters’ ability to pick any candidate regardless of party and send only the top two vote-getters to the general election.
Two initiatives deal with schools.
Initiative 884 would increase the state sales tax by 1 cent and invest the money in public schools from kindergarten to college. Referendum 55 asks voters to uphold or overturn a new law that allows charter schools in the state for the first time.
Tim Eyman’s latest measure, Initiative 892, would allow slot machines like those found in tribal casinos to be installed in nontribal casinos and places where pull tabs are sold, such as bars, restaurants and bowling alleys. A portion of the proceeds would be funneled through the state back to residents in the form of reduced property taxes.
And the Hanford nuclear waste storage site is the target of Initiative 297. If passed, it would tighten the rules on what is dumped there and require cleanup of contaminated areas before any new waste is brought in.
While much of the focus these past weeks has been on statewide and legislative races, residents in and around Stanwood are getting their second chance in two months to authorize the sale of up to $9 million in bonds to build a new 20,000-square-foot library north of downtown.
Also, Darrington, Mill Creek and Snohomish County fire districts 4, 5, 7 and 22 are asking voters to pay for emergency medical services.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 1-360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com
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