Sunya Chay, Staff Writer

According to the Thurston County Auditor, 81.31% of registered voters voted in this year’s general election. This is 3.65% more than the 2016 election, with voter turn-out to be 77.66%. While the percentage difference is small, in contrast it makes a huge difference since this means that more people are using their voice and voting for topics that they believe in.

As the nation has waited for all of the ballots to be counted, residents in Thurston County and all-around Washington state have heard the results for our county and state elections. 

Here in Washington state, we vote for who is going to be governor, statewide measures, and representatives. 

There were two candidates who ran for Washington state governor. Current governor Jay Inslee ran for a chance to get a third term. Opposing him was Loren Culp, who ran for the first time. Both had different views on when they wanted to reopen the state, with Inslee wanting to reopen the state slowly while Culp wanted to reopen as soon as possible. 

With both candidates having very different views on COVID-19 and other issues, it was up to the people to decide who they wanted to lead the state government. Governor Inslee was able to secure a third term, beating Culp by about 21,253 votes. On the night of the election, Governor Inslee took to Twitter to say, “I cannot express the honor I feel to be elected to a third term as governor. The people of Washington have given my administration a unique place in history, and I will continue to work hard for you every day.”  Accompanied by the Tweet was also a statement from Governor Inslee that talks about how there is still work to be done to aid in the fight against the Coronavirus.

One of the state measures that was voted on was Referendum-90.  If approved, it would bring a better understanding of sexual education to schools.  According to an article from King 5 news, it states that, “The bill would require school districts to adopt or develop, consistent with state standards, comprehensive, age-appropriate sexual health education for all students. Parents can request that their child be excused from the instruction.”  

People had mixed feelings about R-90, considering the content to be taught and introduced to students. However, if passed, schools will be able to bring in an updated sexual education course for students, starting in kindergarten. Even with mixed feelings, Referendum-90 passed, with 57.53% of voters approving it.

The Washington State Advisory Vote no. 32 was to decide if we should keep the tax on bags. This tax did not sit well with voters even though the tax for a bag is only five cents a bag. 60.89% of Thurston County voters voted to repeal the bill.