Election

With the highest level of government in the country sowing doubt on the upcoming election, local election officials are working overtime to sow confidence.

Voter registration and turnout figures are expected to break records this presidential election. In Pierce County, voters believe this is the most important election of their lifetime.

SEATTLE -- Several state governments and transit agencies have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop a $30 car tab initiative recently passed by Washington voters.The lawsuit, filed by eight agencies including King County, the City of Seattle and the Washington State Transit Association,  calls Initiative 976 a "poorly drafted hodge-podge" that misleads voters about its impact and violates the state constitution.Read the lawsuit The Tim Eyman-sponsored measure repeals car tab taxes and fees, leaving governments without planned funding for road paving and other projects.

SEATTLE -- Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant increased her lead over challenger Egan Orion on Friday evening in the closely watched race for District 3.Sawant had a 1,515-vote lead after the latest ballot count was released Friday evening.

The race for Seattle City Council District 3 just got much closer.Newcomer Egan Orion had taken a 9-point lead in early voting results, but incumbent Kshama Sawant has narrowed the gap to 2.5 percent.Just 739 votes separate the two candidates as of Thursday afternoon.

SEATTLE -- Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan says the city will file a lawsuit to block the $30 car tab initiative passed by Washington voters in Tuesday's general election.Durkan said Thursday that if fully implemented, Initiative 976 would force the city to cut more than 100,000 bus hours and would hamper her program to provide free bus access for students and low-income residents.She also emphasized that voters in King County, which is home to Seattle, voted against the measure sponsored by Tim Eyman.City Attorney Pete Holmes says the initiative has "fairly obvious legal problems" and says the city will file a joint complaint with King County and ask that the initiative be put on hold.Eyman says Seattle and King County are defying the will of the voters."We don't trust you, and so you better regain our trust, and regaining our trust probably starts with, maybe you shouldn't sue the voters that just said yes to the initiative," Eyman said Tuesday after the first round of vote tallies showed likely passage of I-976. "Maybe you should accept the policy prescription that the voters just voted for."The measure repeals car tab taxes and fees, leaving governments without planned funding for road paving and other projects.Just a day earlier, King County Executive Dow Constantine said he asked the Prosecuting Attorney's Office to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of I-976.“The passage of I-976 underscores the ongoing need for comprehensive state tax reform, but in the short term we must clean up another mess that Tim Eyman has created for our state, our region, and our economy.

SEATTLE -- King County Executive Dow Constantine has asked the Prosecuting Attorney's Office to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of I-976, the $30 car tabs initiative that has passed after gaining a decisive lead in Wednesday afternoon returns.“The passage of I-976 underscores the ongoing need for comprehensive state tax reform, but in the short term we must clean up another mess that Tim Eyman has created for our state, our region, and our economy.

Socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant still trailed challenger Egan Orion by nearly 9 percent as of Wednesday afternoon.

Amazon poured $1.5 million into an effort to overhaul Seattle's City Council this year. It didn't deliver.

Washington state voters have approved a measure cutting car tabs to $30, heartily endorsing an idea that has been around for decades in a move that will cut billions of dollars from transportation budgets and leave governments scrambling for a way to pay for road paving, light rail and other projects.

More than two decades after Washington voters banned affirmative action in the state, a ballot measure seeking to amend that law was losing in early returns.

A Washington state initiative that would slash car tabs to $30 and leave the state and local governments scrambling to pay for road paving and other transportation projects was passing in early returns Tuesday.

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. -- The Snohomish County Sheriff has conceded after early returns showed him trailing a sergeant from his department who ran against him.Sheriff Ty Trenary trailed Adam Fortney by more than 10 points in early results Tuesday night.A key difference between the candidates in this race is how they believed the office handled jail bookings for misdemeanor crimes.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A measure that reinstates the use of affirmative action in state employment, contracting and admission to public colleges and universities was narrowly losing Tuesday night in early returns.Referendum 88 asked people whether they wanted to approve or reject Initiative 1000, which was passed by the Legislature in April.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington voters were supporting an update to a constitutional amendment on emergency government powers in early returns.Resolution 8200 was passing with more than 65 percent of the vote initial returns Tuesday night.

SEATTLE -- Socialist Kshama Sawant trails challenger Egan Orion in early returns in the contentious race for Seattle City Council District 3.As of 8:15 p.m., Orion had 53.99 percent of the vote with Sawant trailing with 45.61 percent of the vote.In District 1, incumbent Lisa Herbold had a slim lead over Phil Tavel 51.29 to 48.32 percent.In District 5, incumbent Debora Juarez had a commanding lead over Ann Davison Sattler 57.24 to Ann Davison Sattler.In District 6, Dan Strauss leads Heidi Wills 52.27% to 47.14%.The next ballot count will be at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Kim Schrier is the first Democrat to win the sprawling 8th Congressional District that stretches from Seattle's eastern suburbs to central Washington farm country.