By Bill Lucia | Editor
Washington has joined another multi-state lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s attempts to impose new conditions on mail-in voting. The legal fight over President Donald Trump’s executive order is creating confusion around election administration with only about two months to go before the November midterms. Washington and other states sued earlier this year over the executive order. A lower court blocked its implementation, but an emergency ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court this week lifted that injunction.
Also in today’s edition…
Washington could receive up to $339 million under a landmark child safety settlement with social media giant Meta.
And, Gov. Bob Ferguson talks up his plans to ban K-12 student cellphone use during the school day.
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Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs speaks at a press conference announcing a new election-related lawsuit, alongside Attorney General Nick Brown, on Wednesday, in Seattle. (Photo by Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard)
By Jake Goldstein-Street
Trump’s order, issued in March, would require state election officials to share a list of mail-in voters with the U.S. Postal Service. USPS, an independent federal agency, wouldn’t send ballots to voters not included on the lists. The federal changes would also set new conditions for states to mail ballots, including envelope design.
State officials worry eligible voters could end up not receiving ballots because of errors or flaws related to making such significant procedural changes so close to Election Day.
Meanwhile, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, said county election officials here would need to replace five million ballot envelopes to comply. States would pay that cost. Hobbs said the revamp would be impossible for return envelopes, forcing voters to use drop boxes instead of mailing ballots the Postal Service may not deliver.
(Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
By Anna Claire Vollers
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on Wednesday agreed to pay 47 states, the District of Columbia, and a handful of U.S. territories up to $17.1 billion in penalties over claims that its social media platforms are addictive and a danger to children. As part of the settlement, Meta also pledged to make changes to Instagram and Facebook that are designed to reduce young people’s use of the platforms.
Under the settlement, Washington will get at least $237 million and up to nearly $339 million over the next decade. How much the state receives will depend on states reaching similar agreements with other social media companies.
“These platforms have exposed our children to explicit content, allowing them to be contacted and harmed by adults who are predators. They have damaged our children’s sense of self-worth with beauty filters and constant social media comparisons,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said Wednesday.
State officials are calling the settlement the biggest consumer protection win since the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s.
By Aspen Ford
Gov. Bob Ferguson is attempting to build support for his forthcoming legislation to ban cellphones in public schools. On Wednesday, he promoted his “away for the day” plan at Pasco High School, where a phone ban is already in place.
“We find it hard to believe that we ever allowed smoking on airplanes, right?” Ferguson said. “That’s how we’ll view cellphones being available in classrooms.”
Under the proposal, cellphones would be banned at public schools from the first bell of the day to the last.
The governor expects to release more details on the proposal Sept. 15 and to pre-file a governor-requested bill on Dec. 7. If passed during the next legislative session, school districts would be required to implement the policy in September 2027.
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ICYMI
Here are the contenders to replace outgoing lawmakers in WA’s Legislature | Jake Goldstein-Street
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