Evan Smith: Localizing the Voters’ Pamphlet

By Evan Smith

ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

My voters’ pamphlet is one that goes into 37 ZIP Codes around King County. It has information about candidates running in three Congressional districts, nine Legislative districts, and a County Council district and a city in other parts of the County.

How can I get information about the candidates and measures on my ballot without looking at a lot of material that doesn't apply to me?

I can get individualized voters’ guides on line in two ways:

• I can go to the Secretary of State’s “My Vote” web site and enter my name and birth date. That gives me my Congressional district, my Legislative district and the judicial contests on my ballot. In each category, I can use the pull-down function to select the voters’ guide information for a particular contest or  individual candidate.

•  I can go to the King County elections web site, go to “My Voters Guide,“ and enter my name and birth date, That gives me a list of everything on my ballot,  If I click on the name of a local candidate, like unopposed King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterburg, and get his voters’ guide statement.

If I click on the name of a candidate for legislative, Congressional or judicial office, I end up at the secretary of state’s voters’ guide, where I can click on “Federal,” “Congressional, ” Legislative” or “Judicial.” In each category, I use the pull-down function to select a district, a particular contest or an individual candidate.