Local News

The Seattle Times political team explores national, state and local politics.

OLYMPIA — Washington has the second best election system in the United States, according to a 17-indicator index released Tuesday.

The Pew Charitable Trusts study is based on data from the 2010 election. It will be updated with 2012 statistics later this year, officials said.

North Dakota placed first in the index. Mississippi finished last. Oregon, which along with Washington uses all-mail voting, tied for third.

When the numbers were run for the 2008 election, however, Washington finished eighth.

The index touts itself as the “first-ever comprehensive assessment of election administration.” It is based on indicators ranging from voter registration and turnout rates to voting wait time, voting-information look-up tools and absentee-ballot return rate.

“It’s great news that Washington is one of the very top states when it comes to the accessibility and integrity of elections and voter registration,” Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman wrote in a news release about the index. “I appreciate the hard work put into the index and how it provides an objective set of measurements to look at how we and other states are conducting elections.”

The index does not include anything about how long it takes to report results. Washington is last on that measure, and some lawmakers are trying to get the state to do something about it.