WA high court hears signature verification case
With voting in full swing, the Washington Supreme Court is considering a case that could affect future mail-in ballots.
Voting rights groups have asked the court to find Washington’s signature verification process unconstitutional.
Kevin Hamilton represents voters whose ballots were thrown out because elections workers determined their signatures did not match one on file.
He said elections officials have tried to improve a fundamentally flawed process.
"They threw every fix they possibly could at this," he told KUOW public radio. "And they still end up with a process in which thousands of Washington voters who did everything they were required to do end up having their ballot rejected."
Ballots of younger voters and people of color are disproportionately rejected over signatures.
The secretary of state’s office has argued that verifying signatures is the least restrictive way to safeguard the vote.
Rally planned against behavioral health facility planned in Colville tonight
A group of Colville residents say a potential new behavioral health center would threaten the community, and they're rallying against it tonight.
In August, Stevens County received $2 million for a crisis stabilization facility in Colville, making it one of 10 Washington counties to get a grant to construct new behavioral health facilities.
But some Colville residents are opposed to the center. One group started a Facebook page called “Keep Colville Safe” to promote their opposition.
They are asking city council members to pass a six-month moratorium on behavioral health facility applications.
While the Facebook page said the group doesn’t oppose mental health care, their talking points document frames the possible treatment center as frightening state overreach and implies that a comprehensive care center would threaten residents with unsheltered people and those with substance abuse issues.
People who oppose the treatment center said they plan to hold a rally this evening at 5 p.m. at Colville City Hall. A city planning commission meeting will follow at 6 p.m.
Inslee readies National Guard for election unrest
Some Washington National Guard members are now on stand-by in case they’re needed to support law enforcement during any unrest this election week.
"Our state depends on these skilled individuals for critical support to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, to include support necessary to protect vital infrastructure related to carrying out free and fair elections and to respond to any unrest related to the 2024 general election," Washington Governor Jay Inslee said in his letter activating the National Guard, published in a press release Friday.
The National Guard members will be on stand-by for four days, beginning Monday, Nov. 4, and ending just after midnight on Thursday, Nov. 7.
According to the release, this is just a precautionary measure in response to the recent ballot drop box fires in southwestern Washington and to warnings from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding threats to election infrastructure.
EPA cleans mining waste along Columbia River
The Environmental Protection Agency has cleaned up mining waste on nine residential properties in the Northport area along the Columbia river, and they plan to continue their efforts at more locations in the region.
The EPA has been working in the area to clean up lead and arsenic from soils that were contaminated from two smelters located in Northport and Trail, British Columbia.
EPA Region 10 administrator Casey Sixkiller said the most recent efforts have focused on residential properties where children and women of childbearing age live because of the health threat the pollution poses.
"So we know especially when it comes to children, there is no safe amount of lead exposure," Sixkiller said. "Lead exposure in young children leads to damage to the brain and nervous system, slows growth and development and can lead to behavior and learning problems as well as speech problems."
The $2.8 million to fund the project came from the Superfund tax, Sixkiller said. That tax had been killed by congress in the 1990s but was restored under the bipartisan infrastructure bill in 2021.
The EPA said there are still 190 residential properties that meet the threshold for clean-up, which it will pursue in the future.
Open insurance enrollment begins in WA
The open enrollment period to buy insurance through Washington’s health exchange has begun.
Consumers have until December 15 to pick a plan that would begin in January.
The deadline is January 15 if you want coverage to start in February.
Ingrid Ulrey, the CEO of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, said this is the 12th year consumers can shop for subsidized medical and dental insurance through the state.
"People come in to Washington Healthplan Finder, put in their information, and it will show them the plans they’re eligible for in their area," she said on TV-W's program "Inside Olympia." "It will show them their net premiums and also the cost sharing structure. People can also plug in doctors that are important for them to be in their network. So it’s pretty user friendly.
"We find that most of our customers are able to self serve by going through our portal or our mobile app, but shopping for insurance is complicated."
She said Washington customers may qualify for both federal and state subsidies that significantly lower their premiums.
Those federal subsidies will expire at the end of next year, unless renewed by Congress, Ulrey said.
Idaho’s open enrollment period began October 15 and runs through December 16.
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Reporting contributed by Amy Radil, Monica Carrillo-Casas, Owen Henderson, Steve Jackson and Doug Nadvornick.