Welcome to the 2020 ACLU People Power Washington Voter Guide
The last few months have seen a robust national discussion on police accountability and reform, with widely varying opinions on best paths forward.
Our group’s work advocating for police accountability in our local communities has made us well aware of the important role our local government and elected officials play in driving policy around this issue.
Appreciating the impact of these down ballot races on our day-to-day lives, our hope is to empower voters with a non-partisan resource to understand how to vote their values through a lens of police reform.
How to Use Our Voter Guide :
King County Charter Amendments
A set of seven charter amendments will appear on the November ballot.
Four are foundational to making structural changes related to police accountability.
The entire State House and half of the State Senate are up for election this November.
In January 2021, the State Legislature convenes for a few short months to consider and pass new state laws.
The opportunity to address issues such as qualified immunity, collective bargaining reform and more lies in the hands of who we send to Olympia for this Legislative Session.
This section of the Voter Guide serves to educate on the issues at stake and where our candidates stand.
With this information you can understand your candidates’ views and cast an informed vote.
Methodology
Candidate Questionnaire
A candidate questionnaire was sent out to all State Legislature candidates in early September. Based on the candidate answers to a series of Yes/No questions, a candidate comparison card for each race was generated. The full questionnaires which also include longer-form responses to questions related to police reform are available for viewing. (Note: If a candidate did not return a completed questionnaire, there is an opportunity to contact them and request their participation.)
Candidate Research
Performed by People Power volunteers through publicly-available information using resources such as Ballotpedia, Vote Smart, Public Disclosure Commission, candidate websites, and more.
We hope that voters can use this initial research to get a better idea of who their candidates are and then look further into matters important to them.
Note: Due to limited volunteer capacity, not every candidate’s research worksheet is filled out.
Volunteers first focused on their own candidates.
If you are interested in volunteering to do research, please reach out to us:
wapeoplepower@gmail.com
“Your vote matters. If it didn’t, why would some people keep trying to take it away?”
— John Lewis