What's a Bellwether State?
Why are we one? Why should you care?
Apparently, due to Washington’s open primaries and ranked choice voting and probably also because of our ALL mail-in ballot process — which allows everyone to vote without having to endure armed ‘watchers’ (aka faux patriots) at polling places — we have been a bellwether state since 1992.
Blah, blah, blah, buh, buh, buh, blah, blah, blah.
I know I’ve already lost you.
No hot-button issues in this missive.
EXCEPT that what it means is IT’S EVEN THAT MUCH MORE IMPORTANT to vote in the August 6th Primary Election.
THAT’S TOMORROW!
The presidential candidates are not on these un-sexy ballots. You’ll only be voting for state representatives, state attorneys general, local officials and local initiatives. Etcetera. For instance, in Leavenworth we’re voting on whether to support the community pool (again).
You know, the pool in which infants and non-well-potty trained toddlers invariably poop in and thereby shut it down for days or weeks on end? Because the designer of said pool thought it would be a brilliant idea to have the wading end of the pool attached to the business end of the pool? Even as a Recreation major with only one class titled Designs for the Real World 101 taught by Recreation professor Jim Moore I could have pointed out the fallacies of that design during the design stage.
Anyway, NOT voting this round when it does not seem the stakes are very high, is the wrong approach to take. Since Washington is a bellwether state, our participation rate is a harbinger of things to come.
If our participation rate is lackluster, it does not bode well for the non-fascists on ballots across the country in the General Election this fall.
If our participation rate is lukewarm, it does not bode well for the candidates who are clearly “adulting” in the General Election this fall.
If our participation rate is anything short of exuberant (60% turnout - of registered, eligible voters), the prospects for any sort of meaningful change will be frozen in amber for another election cycle.
The ‘progress can’ will be kicked down the road.
Here is the Washington Secretary of State website that has all the information you need. If you are not already registered, you can register IN PERSON on the 6th of August. Not being registered cannot be used as an excuse.
Your ballot — assuming you know what address it was sent to and know where it is — can be dropped at a ballot dropbox up until midnight tomorrow.
At the bottom of the page of the Washington Secretary of State website there are several helpful links including a handy rundown of the myriad of candidates and issues all across the state.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DECLARE FOR ONE PARTY OR ANOTHER TO VOTE IN WASHINGTON STATE. That’s why they’re called Open Primaries. You can vote for the dipshits who’re running under the Tr*mp Republican Party banner and/or (because it’s ranked choice voting) you can vote for the weirdo who represents the Nonsense Busters Party. (It might be a party of one.)
JUST VOTE!
ENTHUSIASTICALLY!
LET’S HARBINGE THE SHIT OUT OF THIS ELECTION!
Democracy is not going to die in darkness.
IF it dies, it’s going to die on the front page of every billionaire-owned media conglomerate in this country.
IF it dies, it’s going to die in our arms because citizens performing their rights to vote is the only way to resuscitate it.
IF it dies, it will not be because we didn’t see it coming.