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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 7 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 8 |
| 1886 | 4 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 10 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 15 |
| 1892 | 34 |
| 1893 | 15 |
| 1894 | 25 |
| 1895 | 16 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 6 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1909 | 16 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 7 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
240 stories matching poll
- A Revolver at the Polls: Seattle’s Republican Primary Erupts
Seattle’s Republican primaries collapsed into shouting, challenged voters, fake tickets and a police chief drawing his revolver to declare the polls open.
- Guns at the Polls: Seattle’s First Ward Primary Erupts in a Street Brawl
Sheriff Woolery and saloon man John Considine tried to seize a Republican primary by arresting the election judges; Chief Rogers and his police fought back with warrants, clubs and drawn revolvers.
- The First Votes: When Seattle Women Went to the Polls in 1886
On a chilly, foggy November day, Seattle's women braved election-day crowds to cast their ballots, marking a pivotal, short-lived moment in Washington's struggle for suffrage.
- The Elderberry Wine Defense: How a Contested Election Collapsed in Laughter
Populists dropped their challenge to Commissioner Nickerson, but testimony in the sheriff and coroner contests turned up sailors voting under protest and a lunch bag of elderberry wine at a Franklin polling place.
- The Chaos at the Polls
Voters across Tacoma are finding polling places locked, unmanned, or missing ballots entirely—a chronic failure in the city's election machinery.
- The Ballot Box Was Too Full in Franklin
Populists brought witnesses to court to show that votes in Franklin precinct were pushed, shaken and crammed into an overflowing box—irregularity, they argued, even if not outright fraud.
- The Unfair Tax on Being Alive
An 1878 Seattle citizen challenges the 'double and treble taxation' of poll taxes, arguing that labor should not be penalized while property owners receive preferential treatment.
- The Sheriff Who Arrested the Election Judges
At the opening of a Republican primary in Seattle’s First Ward, Sheriff Woolery had the judges jailed and then tried to pull police off the polls. A judge’s restraining order stopped him—barely.
- The Drunken Voter and the Drain: Seattle’s 1876 Election Reform Ideas
While the 1876 presidential election left the nation in suspense, the local Seattle press used the quiet polling day to propose strict new moral and administrative reforms for the growing town.
- The 1895 Plan to Photograph Suspected Voters at the Polls
A Washington legislator proposed stationing photographers at polling places to snap 'doubtful voters' and preserve evidence against repeaters.
- The Seneca Street Prankster
A pet parrot in Seattle develops a sophisticated and cruel sense of humor, terrorizing a local dog with fake emergency cries.
- The Day Seattle Voted on the Bottle
In a town-defining referendum in 1886, Seattle voters decisively rejected a prohibition measure, choosing the saloon over the temperance movement.
- Seattle's First Municipal Election Under the New Registry Law
A record-breaking turnout draws thousands to the polls as two political factions clash in a pivotal city election.
- Tacoma's 1909 Fight to Own Its Power
On the eve of a city election, advocates urged voters to approve a $2 million municipal light and power plant—and warned the private power trust would lie to stop them.
- The Populists Shouted 'Plutocrats'—and Lost the School Vote
Seattle voters ratified funding for school district No. 1's warrant debt by a three-to-one margin, overcoming noisy opposition at the Rialto.
- The Ghost of Belltown and the Battle for the Ballot
In 1880, as Seattle’s population swelled, the newspaper sparred with shipping reports over the identity of a neighborhood that 'did not exist' and the urgent need for more polling stations.
- The Tear-Off Ballot Stub and the $25 Fine for Not Voting
Two 1893 bills proposed a perforated anti-fraud ballot and compulsory voting with transient polling places, hoping to end vote buying in Washington.
- The Fight Over Local Road Taxes
A Marysville resident challenges a poll-tax law, sparking a legal test case that worries road commissioners.
- Women, Workers, and a $40,000 School Bond
Olympia prepared to vote on a new high school, with women at the polls and labor demanding that local hands build it.
- The Ghost of Sunnydale
A man arrives looking for work, strips off his clothes, and vanishes into the brush—leaving behind only a purse, a poll tax receipt, and a trail of mystery.
- The Election Day Plot at Black Diamond
Election officials warn of a sinister scheme to disrupt the vote at the coal mines, prompting calls for citizens to guard the ballot box.
- The Sheriff Deputized a Killer to Keep the Peace at a Seattle Primary
A Republican primary in Seattle's First Ward turned into a street fight between the sheriff's men and city police—and the Post-Intelligencer laid the blame squarely on Sheriff Woolery.
- The Double-Voting Scandal at the School Board
A Seattle man is convicted for voting twice in a single school election, sparking a tense courtroom drama involving local political heavyweights.
- The Mayor Who Bought His Seat with Lottery Money
In Seattle’s first hotly contested municipal election of 1876, the newspaper publisher who ran for mayor lost to Dr. Weed—not because he lacked support from mechanics and laborers, but because his opponent mobilized the city’s notorious lottery gamblers.
- The Election Was Quiet. The Backstabbing Was Not.
Yakima County's vote was calm at the polls but ugly underneath, with charges of bought voters and official ballots loose in party workers' hands.
Also about this, in other words
- The Fight for the Ballot Box
A legislative attempt to curb 'professional petition pushers' aims to ensure only legal voters influence state law.
- The Price of Apathy in the School Board Election
A surprise victory for J. A. Johnson over Rod Sprague reveals that local civic engagement hangs on the turnout of supporters.
- Voters Storm the Polls in Richland School Board Election
A heated school board race draws record-breaking turnout, sparking calls for more transparency in local governance.
- 443 Votes, Horse-Drawn Turnout, and a Suffrage Preview
Newport’s school election drew a crowd, brought women into the campaign, and ended without ill feeling—just a hint of what Washington might see once women could vote.
- The Confusion of the Ballot: Understanding the Initiative and Referendum
Voters struggle to decipher the complex state measures governing lawmaking, recall, and public utilities ahead of the November 7th election.
- The Battle for Budget Transparency
Voters are urged to support Referendum No. 9 to force public officials to publish expenditure estimates and hold open hearings.
- A Four-Vote Swing Turns an Election
An official canvass overturns a preliminary count, leaving County Commissioner J.B. Clements as the Democratic nominee by the thinnest of margins.
- The Political Brawl for Tacoma’s Soul
After 214 ballots, a fractured city council finally elects a president, exposing a bitter web of accusations, bribery allegations, and 'anti-boodler' fervor.