If you have been reading The Voter newsletter – or if you attended our League’s Annual Meeting in May or our Fire Up member meeting in August – you know LWVSC was paying attention to the work of the 2026 Snohomish County Charter Review Commission and speaking up about its flawed process.
Now we’re speaking up about the proposed Charter amendments that will appear on the November 2026 ballot for Snohomish County voters to choose yes or no. Our recommendation is “Vote No.”
After consulting with the League of Women Voters of Washington and a policy advisor with the League of Women Voters of the United States, our LWVSC Board developed and approved the following stance about the Charter amendments proposed by the Charter Review Commission. This statement was read at the August 26 Fire Up meeting to League members, who overwhelmingly expressed their support.
“The League of Women Voters believes that democratic government depends upon informed and active participation in government and requires that governmental bodies protect the citizen’s right to know by giving adequate notice of proposed actions, holding open meetings, and making public records accessible.
“The League of Women Voters of Snohomish County (LWVSC) found that the 2026 Snohomish County Charter Review Commission’s process of soliciting and processing proposals for consideration failed to meet their stated task to ‘provide a forum for public input.’ Because the public was not given the opportunity to actively participate in the process to determine proposed changes to the Snohomish County Charter,
LWVSC encourages Snohomish County voters to reject all five proposed charter amendments on the November 3 ballot.
“
LWVSC is particularly concerned with Proposition No. 5, which requires four of the five county council members (80%) to approve an increase in taxes,
and Proposition No. 2, which contains a supermajority rule as one of its requirements. As written, these propositions would result in governmental decisions that are not representative and therefore antidemocratic because they would empower a minority number of council members representing a smaller number of citizens to block actions supported by a majority of council members representing the majority of Snohomish County citizens.”
LWVSC Observations
LWVSC’s stance on the proposed Charter amendments is based on our League members’ observations and recordings of the Charter Review Commission’s process. Past President Lisa Utter documented the Charter Review Commission’s flawed process in an article that appeared in
the June Voter.
Members (you must be logged in to view these documents) can find reports from our LWVSC Observer Corps on lwvsnoho.org under Member Resources > Documents. Once you are in the Document Library, select Member Documents. Select
2026 Observer Corps Reports. Once open, click on the folder structure to find reports about Charter Review Commission meetings.
A Closer Look at the Proposed Charter Amendments
The five propositions submitted by the Charter Review Commission are on the Snohomish County website. You can click the links below to review each one.
PROPOSITION NO. 1 - Adoption of a Foundational Government Services Policy
PROPOSITION NO. 2 - Prioritize Funding of Budget Stabilization Funds
PROPOSITION NO. 3 - Converting All Elected Offices to Non-partisan Offices
PROPOSITION NO. 4 - Increasing Public Access to County Financial Transparency
PROPOSITION NO. 5 - Requiring a 4/5 Supermajority Council Vote to Increase Taxes
Two of the proposed amendments - Proposition No. 5 and Proposition No. 2 – include requirements for a supermajority vote.
To find the exact language in
Proposition No. 2, look under (5) Supermajority Requirement: Appropriation or expenditure from either stabilization fund shall require approval by at least four members of the County Council or a super majority should the county council change membership.
In
Proposition No. 5, the language is in the title: Requiring a 4/5 Supermajority Council Vote to Increase Taxes. Be sure to read all the details in the proposed ballot title and the definition of a “councilmanic tax.”