A recent editorial from The Seattle Times is drawing sharp criticism from Washington State Republicans, who say the paper published false claims about a new GOP-backed voting initiative.
In an editorial titled “WA GOP takes a run at ending vote by mail,” the Seattle Times editorial board wrote that the regional initiative—formally titled IL 26-126—“would, among other things, require in-person voting on Election Day and require voters to produce either a passport, birth certificate or official immigration papers to register to vote.”
“This was so shoddy, so full of mistakes, it’s amateur hour. They’re supposed to be the watchdogs. Instead, they’re running cover for the Democrats.”@WAGOP Chair Rep @JimWalshLD19 slams The @seattletimes for pushing fake news pic.twitter.com/Qzf5EqA2b5
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) June 13, 2025
Both claims are false, according to Representative Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen), who is also the chairman of the Washington State Republican Party and the sponsor of the initiative.
Seattle Times makes fools of themselves.
Their sloppy & mistaken "Editorial" contains FALSE STATEMENTS. If the dullards had actually read IL26-126, they'd realize it DOES NOT "require in-person voting on Election Day."
Admit your mistake, @SeaTimesOpinion. And apologize. Now. pic.twitter.com/p748Ia37xp— Jim Walsh (@JimWalshLD19) June 12, 2025
“This is literally misinformation,” Walsh said in an interview on The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI. “They’re accusing us of doing things the initiative doesn’t do—and anyone can read the initiative text and see that.”
The initiative does not eliminate vote-by-mail in Washington State. It also does not require “official immigration papers” to register. Instead, IL 26-126 proposes that people registering to vote must show proof of U.S. citizenship, which can include a passport, birth certificate, or an enhanced driver’s license—a standard requirement in many other states.
“It’s simple: If you want to register to vote, you provide documentation proving you’re a citizen,” Walsh said. “That’s it. This is an important election reform meant to restore trust in our elections. It’s not some backdoor effort to ban voting by mail.”
Walsh accused The Seattle Times of intentionally misleading readers and pushing Democratic Party talking points under the guise of an opinion piece.
“This was so shoddy, so full of mistakes, it’s amateur hour,” he said. “They’re supposed to be the watchdogs. Instead, they’re running cover for the Democrats.”
Walsh also suggested the editorial may have been based directly on Democratic press releases, urging GOP colleagues to investigate whether The Times editorial staff reused language from party communications.
“You want a conspiracy theory? Here it is,” Walsh said. “What do you want to bet they just copied and pasted from a Democrat fundraising email? That wouldn’t surprise me at all. This is the kind of lazy propaganda you’d expect from a campaign—not a newspaper.”
During the interview, host Ari Hoffman noted that the Seattle Times’ editorial board has previously referred to violent protests as “mostly peaceful,” and said the paper’s record of bias makes the current controversy unsurprising.
Walsh said that while many media outlets operate with bias, the Times crossed a line by making claims that are “demonstrably false.”
“Some spin is just opinion,” Walsh said. “But this is a false statement about a specific ballot initiative. It’s not interpretation—it’s just wrong.”
He added that The Times has undermined its own credibility by engaging in what he described as “advertorial journalism,” citing partnerships with green energy groups to produce “sponsored content” under initiatives like the Climate Lab project.
“They’re running government-funded PR pieces for left-wing nonprofits and calling it journalism,” Walsh said. “That kind of thing erodes trust with readers.”
The Washington State Republican Party says it will continue to push for election reforms like IL 26-126 and intends to hold media outlets accountable when they publish what the GOP deems to be misinformation.
“We want reliable media in this state,” Walsh said. “If The Seattle Times wants to get back to being a real newspaper, they can start by apologizing and correcting the record.”
As of now, The Seattle Times has not issued a correction or responded to the accusations. Meanwhile, IL 26-126 continues to gain support among Republican voters as it moves forward in the initiative process.
Listen to The Ari Hoffman Show weekdays 3-6 PM Pacific on Talk Radio 570 KVI
