What's
Happening Now.

The Field Just Got Smaller. The Ballot Just Got Bigger.

The primary narrowed every contested race down to two names. November's ballot adds something the primary never had: initiatives and measures, including SAFE Homes For All and the fight over the millionaires' tax. Same candidates you already have scorecards for, plus a whole new layer the Receipt Test was built for. Your specific ballot depends on your precinct — check yours at BallotReady.

November isn't a wait-and-see. Here's the work you can do today.

U.S. Supreme Court: Mail Ballots Postmarked by Election Day Must Be Counted

In Watson v. Republican National Committee, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states can count mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day even if received after. The majority wrote: "The electorate's choice is made when voting is complete, not when ballots are received." This is a direct protection for Washington voters.

The win is real — but Pierce County Elections still recommends using a drop box over mail due to ongoing USPS service reductions. Don't test the protection unnecessarily. Drop box is the move.

USPS Service Reductions Are Still Real — Plan for a Drop Box in November

Pierce County Elections recommended against mailing ballots for the primary due to ongoing reductions at USPS, and the same guidance will apply for the November 3 general election. Even though the SCOTUS ruling protects mail ballots, delays can create uncertainty and stress. 57 drop boxes across Pierce County are free, secure, and open 24/7.

SAFE Homes For All — Headed to Your November Ballot

Tacoma renters gathered over 8,000 petition signatures, well past the required threshold, to force this tenant safety and enforcement measure onto the ballot after the City Council itself declined to act on it directly. It's now certified for the November 3 ballot. If you are a Tacoma renter or care about housing access — this is your issue and it's coming. Full Receipt Test breakdown on Your Ballot.

The SAVE America Act — A Threat to Voter Access

If passed, the SAVE Act would cost Washington State more than $35 million to implement before the 2026 midterms and would be nearly impossible to execute before Election Day. Pierce County has flagged this as a serious concern. Beyond the cost — it would reduce voter access significantly. This is what the midterms are partly about. The people you vote into Congress in November will determine what this act becomes.

The President Addressed the Nation on the 2020 Election. Here's the Claim vs. the Record.

In a primetime address Thursday night, President Trump alleged China ran a years-long operation to steal 220 million American voter files specifically to prevent his 2020 win, calling it the largest compromise of election data in history. He accused intelligence officials of covering it up, repeated claims of hundreds of thousands of noncitizens and deceased people on voter rolls, and renewed his push for the SAVE America Act.

Worth knowing: the U.S. intelligence community, under both this administration and the last one, has already reviewed the 2020 election and found no credible evidence any foreign government altered a vote or compromised its integrity. China's Embassy issued a same-day denial. Dead-voter claims are, per election experts, a routine list-maintenance issue, not evidence of fraud. Sen. John Thune (R) called 2020 "a closed issue." Schumer rejected the SAVE Act push the same night: "isn't going anywhere. Period." This is exactly why the primary is worth showing up for now. The field narrows here, before November's terrain gets any more contested.

Trump Declined to Rule Out an "Emergency" Over the Midterms. Here's the Claim vs. the Record.

On a pro-Trump media program, host Wayne Allyn Root pitched the President on declaring a "national security emergency for elections," since the SAVE America Act stalled in the Senate, to restrict mail-in voting and require proof-of-citizenship registration. Root claimed such a declaration "can't be challenged." Trump's response: "Let me just say that stranger things have happened, OK? I'll leave it at that." He did not confirm it. He also did not rule it out.

Worth knowing: UCLA election law professor Rick Hasen was direct about the legal reality, "The United States Constitution does not give the president power over elections. We have a decentralized election system." That's not just theory. A March 2026 executive order attempting similar federal control over elections has already been blocked by two separate federal courts, which ruled the Constitution gives that authority to states, not the president. The administration is appealing. Also on the record: Trump reportedly told an audience in January "I won't say cancel the election, they should cancel the election," and a leaked 17-page draft executive order reportedly proposes using foreign-interference claims as a pretext for emergency authority over this exact midterm. Even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally, called the idea of using a "manufactured crisis" to cancel the midterms "insane."

The State Bar Ran a Front-Page Profile of One Supreme Court Candidate. During Voting. Naming None of His Opponents.

Bar News, the official publication of the Washington State Bar Association, put appointed Justice Theo Angelis on its cover four days after primary voting opened for Position 5, without mentioning any of his three challengers or the election itself. Angelis confirmed he worked directly with the same WSBA communications specialist both for the original interview and afterward, to "elaborate in writing and on fact-checking." As of the reporting, he had not disclosed the piece as an in-kind contribution to the state's Public Disclosure Commission.

Worth knowing: opponent Dave Larson's campaign has publicly raised the possibility this could violate independent expenditure or in-kind contribution disclosure rules, though no formal PDC complaint had been filed as of the reporting. This is exactly why institutional support is worth tracking as closely as campaign cash. A favorable cover story delivered by the body that oversees the legal profession itself, to one candidate only, during active voting, is a real form of backing that never shows up in a fundraising total.