A plain language guide to the 2025 Election

Words to know

Ballot initiative: A ballot question that asks if you want to make a new law. Ballot initiatives are brought by citizens.

City attorney: An elected position. The city attorney prosecutes people for breaking less serious laws and advises the city on legal matters. 

City council: A group of people who create laws for your city. You vote for members of your city’s council.  

File an initiative: Propose a new state law that voters will decide on.

General election: An election that includes the top two candidates for a position General elections can also include ballot initiatives, local levies, and propositions. 

Local levy:  A short-term property tax. Local levies raise money for local programs and services. They must be renewed every few years.

LGBTQ: A shorter way of writing lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning.

Local lawmakers: Elected people who make laws in your city, county, school district, or special district (like a public utility district).  

Mayor: An elected person who manages how a city is run. 

Primary election: An election that decides the top 2 candidates for the general election.

Proposition: A ballot question that asks if you want to make a new law. Propositions are brought by elected leaders, for instance the city council.

School board: Elected leaders who hire a school district superintendent, create rules for the district to follow, approve a budget, and make sure the district follows the law and supports students and staff.

School district: A type of government that runs free schools for the public. School districts offer kindergarten, 1st to 12th grade, transition programs, and special education services for youth ages 3 to 22. Some people call this K-12 education. 

Signature gathering: Asking voters to support putting an initiative or referendum on the ballot. Voters sign their name on the petition if they want the initiative or referendum on the ballot. 

Transgender: “Someone whose gender is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. A transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. A transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Nonbinary people can be assigned either sex at birth.” (Definition from Definitions and Beyond, Proud and Supported Series)

What positions are on the ballot this year?

Washington has elections every year. On August 5, 2025, we will have a primary election. This election decides which candidates advance to the general election. On November 4, we will have a general election. The general election includes the top 2 candidates for each office, statewide ballot initiatives, and local propositions.

Mostly local races

In odd years, we vote for our local lawmakers. Local lawmakers include:  

• Your city’s mayor, city attorney, and city council 
   
• Your county’s county executive, county council, and other county positions 
   
• Your school district’s school board  
   
• Boards for special districts, like a public utility district  
   

Local lawmakers have a big impact on your life. Local lawmakers are in charge of many things. For example:  

• Transportation services, like light rail, para-transit, and the bus
   
• Walking and rolling improvements, like new sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and accessible crosswalks. Also making sure roads are in good shape
   
• City police departments, the county sheriff, and county jails  
   
• Some utilities, like garbage collection and water service 
   
• Housing assistance programs  
   
• Zoning regulations. Zoning says where certain businesses or types of homes can be built. Some places are zoned just for single-family homes. Other places are zones for industry, shops, apartments and condos, or a mix 
   
• City and county laws. Laws say what is and is not allowed by a government, such as the city or county. City laws are sometimes called “ordinances”  
   
• School board policies and procedures. A policy says what is allowed. A procedure says how to make sure people follow the policy. Most school boards use school board policy and procedure created by the Washington State School Director Association (WSSDA). However, all school boards can create their own policies and procedures

Your vote is powerful! When you vote for local lawmakers, you vote for important issues.

Some state races

Usually, statewide offices are decided in even years. This year, there are some state legislative positions that need to be filled.

Ballot measures

In the general election, there may be some ballot initiatives, propositions, or local levies for voters to decide

• Ballot initiatives are from people who live in the state.  They ask if you want to make a new law.  All Washington voters vote on ballot initiatives. 
   
• Sometimes, local lawmakers ask voters if they want a new law or want to pass a local levy or tax. These are called propositions. Only local voters vote on local propositions. For example, King County voters passed the Best Starts for Kids and the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services levies. 

Propositions and local levies come from your local government. 

Initiatives come from people are not in government. Registered voters can file initiatives with the Secretary of State’s office. An initiative needs enough signatures to be on your ballot. You can find initiatives that people filed with the Secretary of State’s office here.

Last year, Washington voters voted on Initiative 2109. This initiative asked Washington voters whether they wanted to keep a tax that gave money to education. Washington voters decided to keep the tax that gave money to education. 

Initiatives may affect state youth 

This year, there may be two initiatives that affect youth in Washington.

Repeal HB 1296: The first would repeal a law the state legislature passed, House Bill 1296 - Promoting a Safe and Supportive Public Education System. 

This law says public schools must:

• Protect student safety
• Protect students from discrimination
• Protect student access to basic education
• Protect student privacy

It lists certain parent rights and says what information schools need to provide parents. 

It sets up a complaint process if schools decide not to follow state law.

It adds to the groups that can't be discriminated against. These already included race, religion, national origin, disability, and sexual orientation. It added gender expression, homelessness, and citizenship status, as well as neurodivergence. Neurodivergent means your brain works differently; examples include people who are autistic, or have dyslexia or ADHD. 

This law changed another law passed in 2024 that listed parent rights. Advocates for HB 1296 said the earlier law was confusing and did not protect students. Some people do not like the changes, so they filed an initiative to get rid of it.  

Student sports ban: Another ballot initiative might ban transgender children from playing school sports with their peers. Advocates of gender inclusive schools think this is wrong. They say all children want to be included in their school, feel supported and safe, and have fun. 

Both of these initiatives need enough Washington voters to sign their petitions. If they do not get enough signatures, they will not appear on the ballot. 

We will know what initiatives will be on the November ballot in late August.