“If you live here, you vote here. You don’t get to vote anywhere else.”

Washington state Sen. Adrian Cortes, who made the comment after a Washington state appeals court overturned the felony conviction of a Lewis County man who voted in both Washington and Oregon in November 2022. The court ruled, 2–1, that because the ballots contained different candidates and issues, they constituted separate elections, even though they were cast on the same day. Calling the ruling “flabbergasting,” Cortes is sponsoring legislation to clarify state law by defining an election based on the election date, not the ballot content. The bill would make explicit that a person may not vote more than once on the same election date, closing what lawmakers say is a dangerous loophole in election law. (Washington State Standard)