(upbeat music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut KCTS 9 newsroom.

Seattle voters will weigh in on defunding the police with the upcoming 2021 elections.

In 2019, just 10% of registered voters said the police department was their top issue, while 70% named homelessness or housing, according to a Crosscut-Elway poll.

While the current Seattle City Council may not have been elected with an eye toward policing, the summer's protests made it one of the defining issues.

The Council became the face of the defund movement, locally and nationally, as a majority of members pledged cuts of up to 50% of the Seattle Police Department budget.

The upcoming elections will mark the first time City Hall's pledges to re-imagine or even defund the police will be on the ballot.

In November, voters will choose their next mayor, two city council members, and the city attorney.

All of the positions up for election are city-wide representatives, unlike 2019, when they were all district-based.

I'm Starla Sampaco.

Find nonprofit Northwest news every day on crosscut.com.

(upbeat music)