March 22, 2005
URGENT! Election Today
I bet you didn't know there is an election today. There is: The King Conservation District is holding an election for its Board of Supervisors. I spoke with District Co-Coordinator Geoff Reed and got the following details:
- Every registered voter in the conservation district is eligible to vote. The district encompasses all of King County except for some small pockets, such as Federal Way.
- Turnout is generally very low, as most commissioners run unopposed. The last election had only about 100 voters.
- This year there are three candidates competing, two on the ballot and one write-in.
- There are only four polling places, open from noon to 7pm today. You still have five hours to vote. Here is a list of polling places.
- The mainstream media usually ignores these elections.
I heard about this election from Sarah Coombs, who is supporting write-in candidate Ross Loudenback. Loudenback is endorsed by the Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights, which is definding property owners against the draconian Critical Areas Ordinance. Loudenback is a property rights advocate.
If you care about the CAO, I urge you to go to the polls today. With the total number of votes cast likely to be in the hundreds, every vote will truly count.
UPDATE: Commenters have asked about absentee ballots and voters' pamphlets, and why they haven't received them. The answer is that elections for conservation districts are governed by different law than for regular elections. There is no requirement for voters' guides or absentee ballots for these elections. For details, see RCW 89.08.
UPDATE, 4:30pm: I just got back from voting. As 'Regret' mentions in the comments, the election is conducted just like in grade school: photocopied ballots dropped into a cardboard box. In fact, they had run out of ballots before I arrived and were just using blank paper -- write in the candidate's name. Voters were asked to sign in, and the poll worker was circling 'yes' under eligible to vote for everyone after asking if we were registered. Actually, the whole 'eligible' check is pointless. It's not like ineligible ballots can be found and removed after the fact. They should either have a list of registered voters and ask to see ID or not bother asking the question.
Posted by Andy MacDonald at March 22, 2005
01:59 PM | Email This
1. Dang. Could they possibly make it
more inconvenient? So, I have a choice of fighting traffic to vote 12 miles away from home downtown, or driving between 24 and 28 miles out into the sticks. Splendid. At least those most effected by the CAO have
polling places nearby.
2. They sure make it convenient to vote, don’t they? Funny I’m a registered voter and I never even received a voter’s pamphlet for this election.
Gotta love King County elections.
3. "and the beat goes on ..."
4. Thanks for the heads up. I'll take a little walk up the hill and exercise my rights (and my legs).
5. If I had known, I could have gone on my lunch hour but there just isn't time now. What kind of set-up is this? How can they justify holding any kind of election without telling people about it???
6. Whew, that was close. Thanks for the heads-up Andy. I almost missed that.
7. Wow. I don't think I've EVER heard of this election. Luckily, I work in Belltown and will make the trek downtown and vote before heading home.
8. I never received my absentee ballot. Why not?
9. I spoke to Geoff Reed at KCD. Apparently every voter in King County is eligible except those who live within the city limits of Federal Way. Unfortunately, that rules me out.
10. Thanks for the heads up, Andy. I stopped in to vote in Carnation after picking up my kids from school. There were two people ahead of me, and one coming after. Nice of King County to try to slip this one by us.
11. Thanks for the heads up. I called all of my king County friends and they will vote for Ross Loudenback. I was asked if it was okay if their dead relatives voted too. It seemed to be okay in the last election.
12. Well I went in to the lobby of Seattle City Hall and did my thing. It was kind of conducted like a student council election in grade school. There was a photocopied ballot with two names and a line for a write in. After you filled in the ballot you dropped it in a cardboard box with a hole in the top! Dean Logan was nowhere to be seen.
We did have to sign in and give our name and address, and they had a spot on this registration where someone was going to mark (later) whether we were eligible to vote.
Well, at least it was a nice afternoon for a walk.
13. Not to give her any more airtime than necessary... but headless lucy seems to have a blog (hlrp at blogspot dot com - for some reason I can't post this direct link)
The point I take from this is that it is meaningless.... Figures.
(And don't give me any guff about glass houses).
14. For people a little uncomfortable with writing in a name you have never heard of before, I found a bio on Ross Loudenback from a City of N. Bend Council election. It says: "My family and I have lived and worked in North Bend for over 12 years. Our three children attend the local schools and we all enjoy the small town atmosphere that our community has to offer. I have been attending city council, planning commission and work-study meetings for over 3 years now and have a good working knowledge of the issues facing North Bend. My priorities as a councilperson will be to focus the city on the efficient delivery of citizen services. Police and fire service along with a timely solution to the water moratorium are critical in the short term. Infrastructure improvements to the roads, sewers and parks will also need to be addressed quickly in order for North Bend to properly serve its citizens."
15. Thanks. I just came back from Seattle City Hall. There was only I and the lonely man. I hope more people take the effort to vote. It's Ross's chance.
16. Thank you to Steve Hammond to set the example. I noticed his name right above mine in the sign-in book out here, I know he had to take some time out of his busy schedule to come home from wherever he was to vote.
I walked in and the table was vacant, no one was around. If I had had a dozen pre-marked ballots I could have stuffed it in 5 seconds and none would have known. Clerk came out and asked if I was a resident and a reg. voter. I said "yes I am, and although you have to say you don't need to see any ID, I'm still going to show you my voter registration anyway."
A $2.5 million dollar budget is not meaningless, it would be nice if that was lining my pockets and not the county's.
17. If this is a Soil and Water Conservation District, it is a district set up to funnel USDA money and sometimes local property tax money to farmers who agree to adopt good soil conservation practices, like planting vegetation by streams to protect salmon and doing contour plowing.
Usually only farmers run for the seats because it is an ag program. Usually the same guys who were elected to the first boards set up about fifty years ago are still on those boards. Nobody wants to do it because it is boring and board members are powerless. State and federal bureaucrats tell them what plans and programs they can and can't run.
Rather than just saving topsoil, etc., today SWCDs are starting to be used to pay farmers to take land out of production. Successful young farmers don't want to do this. The other guys do. This is typical green, social!st thinking. Make something scarce (ag products) in order to reward your constituents. However, all it does is depopulate the countryside and kill small towns.
It is an outgrowth of Rooseveltian social!st ideas that linger on in the darker corners of the federal govt.
18. What the F is this? I've never even heard of this election. And as I'm in Arizona today on business, there's not a d@mn thing I can do about this.
One more reason why Ron Sims and his cronies should be shown the door, pronto. It's inexcusable to schedule these things and not tell the @#$#%% voters.
19. This is incredible!
A *NO NOTICE* election concerning such an important and controversial issue like the CAO??
This can't be legal.
20. Oh Andy, I wonder whether your post is in violation of the McCain/Feingold. I'm willing to sue you to make the point, if you want to dance.
For those not in the loop, Patterico/Patrick Frey has much on this: Patterico's Pontifications
21. How about this... I show up (downtown) to vote. Now, picture this.. I'm a 24 year old guy, I was dressed in a pink dress shirt and jeans... not exactly the typical KCD voter, I imagine.
So, I stand in line (yes, there was a line!!), get odd looks from everyone including the election worker, and finally get to the front. The election worker says nothing to me. He did not ask me if I was registered, or anything. He simply circled yes.
So... As a follow-up, I plan to inquire of the KCEO within a week or so whether or not I was credited with voting.
22. Actually, I'd like to know if the KCOE holds the responsibility of conducting this election, or what type of oversight they hold. If they hold any oversight at all, I'd like to know why the election was not noted on their homepage.
23. Hopefully this election is insignificant is results and won't mean diddly squat. The KCCD is a small portion of the enforcement arm. I doubt that the results will bear consequence on much of anything, so breathe a sigh of relief.
Never fear also, there won't be enough money to enforce the CAO with the Enron accounting/vote tracking system employed in Kingfish county. The CAO needs to be deep-sixed. If you vote for David Irons, the CAO will go up in smoke ! There's a new campaign slogan.
24. Let's Just hope Dean Logan isn't counting these votes, because if he is it will be a month before his and Ron's candidates win. See the CAO is their baby. It is cheaper just to steal land then to pay people for it. I don;t know what good hometraining class teaches that you can go out and steal other peoples property. I guess only if you are the government in King County!
Go Ross Loudenback!
And Sims will meet his match soon! Then Bye Bye Dean Logan!