Eastern Washington Voters
We Are Making Eastern Washington into a More Progressive Place
Eastern Washington Voters is a group of people who are passionate about making Eastern Washington more progressive. Our members believe it is possible to make a difference, and they have proven it over and over again.
Our solutions to increase Democratic voter turnout are research-based and have been proven effective. These include Get Out the Vote (GOTV) postcards to increase the voter turnout of Democrats and partisan voter registration. We have developed many of them ourselves and are sharing them with other Democrats through the Analyst Institute and the Under-Tested/Innovation Fund.
“We work smarter, not just harder.” –Bryan Burke, Ph.D. and Executive Director
If you are tired of Eastern Washington being the “ball and chain” that holds back the progressive agenda for the rest of the State, please donate and become a member or supporter of Eastern Washington Voters.
Below is a small portion of our work.
Democratic Control of the City Government in Spokane
In 2023, we helped Democrats win the trifecta for the first time in over a decade. With our help, Democrats won 1) control over the Spokane City Council, 2) the Council Presidency, and 3) the Mayoral office.
Getting Out the Vote
Lately, our most powerful tool has been our Get Out the Vote postcards. These are considerably more effective and cost efficient than voter registration at winning Democratic votes. In the 2021 local election year, we experimentally measured the increase in turnout from these to be 4.7 percentage points.
Largest Voter Registration Drive
Since 2011, we have coordinated the largest partisan voter registration drive in Eastern Washington. In total we have registered 9,000 individuals. According to our in-house exit polls, 70% to 80% of those who voted did so for Democrats.
We still do some voter registration work but after the implementation of Automatic Voter registration in 2019 in the State of Washington.
Majority of Democrats
Partly because of our work, the Spokane City Council currently has 5 to 2 progressive majority. We helped elect Betsy Wilkerson and Zack Zappone in 2022.
Making Rural Eastern Washington More Democratic
In 2008, we were instrumental in electing one of only two Democratic rural County Commissioners in eastern Washington. In a close race, we helped Democrat Pat O’Neill win a seat in Whitman County by helping him design and fund a 5,000 pieces mailing to targeted voters.
Crop Art
In 2006, Eastern Washington Voters helped film a TV ad using crop art that was key to defeating the anti-environmental I-933. You can watch it here.
Our First Year
In 2004, we distributed 5,000 pieces of literature “by hand” in support of Christine Gregoire. As you know, she was elected by only 133 votes.