Yesterday Secretary of State Kim Wyman and Gov. Jay Inslee announced their plan to spend $1.2 million for prepaid mail-in ballot envelopes in all counties but King. “Because Washington is a vote-by-mail state, prepaid postage is one important way we can reduce barriers to casting ballots,” Inslee said. The King County Council previously voted to provide postage for ballots there. (Seattle Times)

Seattle, Land of Useless Symbolic Stands: After vowing to drop Wells Fargo as the city’s bank, Seattle signed an extension because no other banks wanted the city’s business. So why did Seattle crawl back to Wells Fargo? “The reality is, none wanted to participate and bid for our services,” city Finance Director Glen Lee said, with no sugarcoating. The city even chopped up the business into different contracts to attract other banks but found no takers. (KUOW 94.9)

Former Seattle mayoral candidate Nikkita Oliver said instead of ticketing Metro bus fare evaders, we should consider just making all bus rides free. Her argument? “Giving people tickets for not being able to afford transit fare is criminalizing poverty,” she tweeted. (My Northwest)

The field vying to unseat U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell is so large, it could field a baseball team with subs to spare. The eleven-person field includes three Democrats and three Republicans, with the remaining candidates representing a variety of other political parties. And yes, perennial candidate Goodspaceguy is running yet again. (The Spokesman-Review)

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