Now, more than ever, your vote matters. This year, fight to protect your schools, civil liberties, environmental health and election integrity.
It is often hard to feel heard in a political, bipartisan landscape with such sharp ideological divides. Your voice matters and voting is one essential way to have a say in your democracy.
“Political scientists, and maybe people who care about elections have a bad habit every election saying; that ‘this is the most important election in our lifetimes,’ but I believe this to be true in this election,” said Dr. Steven Horn, EvCC’s head of the Political Science department.
“We at least need to elect someone willing to keep the democratic game going.”
Voting is only part of our collective responsibility – a piece of the greater democratic project. Other important actions include, but are not limited to, offering mutual aid, engaging in protest and getting involved in local politics, such as attending city council meetings. Through these actions, we can hold our government accountable for the public good.
With a population of over 337 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, it is often hard to feel heard. Voting is a way to make the government hear your voice, which has not always been available to certain minority populations.
According to Statista, only 49.1% of citizens aged 18-24 were registered voters in 2020. This means that over half of the youth in the U.S. must register to vote for a proper representation of our populace. According to NPR, there remains a persistent gap between the percentage of voter turnout of white voters and the turnout of people of color. Though our state allows people to vote by mail, many states have a less accessible process. Thirty-five different states now require photo ID to vote, according to Ballotpedia.
In-person voting discriminates by making the task more difficult to participate in. Not all people living in this country can vote. Those with disabilities are marginalized by long lines for in-person voting, as are able-bodied individuals who cannot get the time off work to perform their civic duty.
According to USA Fact, since 2020, the number of voters required to vote on election day (who do not have access to early voting) has increased from 30.6% in 2020 to 58.2% in the 2022 midterm election. This is due partly to outrage based on the outcome of the 2020 election.
The ‘Stop the Steal’ movement consists of a group of voters who challenged the 2020 election validity. This caused electors and cyber security experts to test the security of domestic elections countrywide.
Dennis Skarr, head of Cybersecurity at EvCC, while enlisted in the National Guard, worked in tandem with Washington State electors. He stated that, despite three years of searching for election fraud, “for whatever reason, (the ‘Stop the Steal’ advocates) believe it from the bottom of their hearts, despite no findings of fraud detected in any case or court system.”
As citizens with the ability to vote, we have the responsibility to give voice to the silenced members of our community. Those who have committed a felony lose their voting rights for the rest of their lives, even in the case of nonviolent offenders, released and considered ‘rehabilitated’ in the eyes of the court.
Citizens of our territories such as Guam and Puerto Rico, who are taxed without representation, get no say in their democracy. Homeless people who have no reported home address are also excluded. Transgender individuals whose gender identity does not match the one on their IDs are also exempted from voter participation in states that require voter ID.
This year’s election will be a fight. Polling shows a tight race. It is a time for standing our ground for the hard-won labor and civil rights movements of yesteryear, with the ultimate risk to our most marginalized people and environmental protections due to changes in administration, as well as legislation aimed at radical conservative changes in government.
Project 2025 is a looming threat and ongoing battle with heads like a Greek mythology hydra (cut one off and three take its place). Project 2025 is a plan enacted by the Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. Common goals of this organization include restricting abortion access, cutting governmental agencies and the deregulation of heavy industry.
Horn expressed fears over this plan and the potential result of diminished civil liberties, such as the right to assemble, that could occur if it came to pass. He relayed his fears of jail time for peaceful assembly and a shuttering of “educational institutions that want to talk about issues like diversity, equity and inclusion.”
This year’s ballot initiatives for Washington State are more of the same ‘voodoo’ economics which has led to increased pollution of large corporations and expanding the wealth gap between the 1% and the 99% since the 1980’s. If enacted, the initiatives could mean a loss of green jobs, cutting health insurance for vulnerable populations, and shutting the doors of even more public schools. These plans fall under the goals of Project 2025, and are aligned with the goals of former President Trump and his staff.
According to the Washington Voter Pamphlet, these initiatives are just a local sampling of what is at stake this term, with devastating impacts if passed. The initiatives are as follows:
Ballot Initiative 2066:
This initiative would invest more tax dollars into natural gas infrastructure, prohibit laws and regulations that would discourage further use of natural gas in new constructions and divert funds spent on encouraging greener power options.
Ballot Initiative 2109:
This initiative would repeal an existing tax on “long-term capital gains over 250,000 dollars.” As the tax law currently stands, this money funds public schools. If passed, this loss of tax revenue would cost the public school system 2.2 billion dollars over 5 years and benefit only the wealthy among us.
Ballot Initiative 2117:
This initiative would repeal the Carbon Cap Initiative. This would be a divestment from green energy projects, and would negatively impact jobs in green energy. If passed, it would invoke a projected revenue loss of 758.1 million in 2025 alone.
Ballot Initiative 2124:
This initiative would allow employees to opt out of long-term care insurance coverage. This change in legislation would decrease the overall funding for Washington’s public insurance program. Currently, the deduction amounts to 0.58 percent of an employee’s wages for most workers and helps insure 3.9 million workers’ long-term care needs.
Horn said the upcoming election could have a long-lasting impact, depending on the results.
“It’s hard for ordinary people to pressure the system and I think that this election will determine whether it becomes markedly harder for labor unions and collective action to affect the system,” he said. “I am concerned that one of the consequences of this election if Trump is elected, is that the gloves come off in terms of governmental power leveraged against these organizations. I hope to be spectacularly wrong and this won’t be the case, but that’s my fear.”
His fears are not unfounded. In the last election, former president Trump challenged election results as a way to sew doubt in the populace. According to NPR, Trump has threatened to prosecute his political rivals and protesters over 100 times on record. We have no reason to believe that under a second Trump presidency our First Amendment rights will be protected.
“We are on a sort of precipice, where it becomes more difficult to do the things I think fundamental to democracy if the election goes the wrong way,” said Horn about this ongoing threat to the Freedom of Assembly.
For many reasons, voting is crucial. It is one opportunity for our voices to be heard and to stand up for our rights as they are being threatened. We must remember that our voices carry the weight for those who have no voice in this election, as well as for ourselves. We also must remember that political action does not end at the ballot, but that this is a fight that happens on the day-to-day level.
Together we are strong. We can be the change required to win this fight and continue to hold our politicians accountable. We must support one another through mutual aid and make our voices heard through political action in the interim. Get involved with local politics, become informed, take action. And if all that sounds too much, at least vote like your life depends on it.
Register to vote or update your registration at Vote.gov.
