Everett, Wash.
Published: Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Vibrant democracy requires parties that actually compete

John Burbank / Syndicated Columnist

 A common theme in a democracy is "one person, one vote." But what happens when most people sit out an election? Do you still have a democracy? What happens when only one candidate is running for an office? Does that make for a democratic choice?

I am not referring to the one-party elections of the Soviet Union, or the boycotted elections held last year in Iran. I am considering the primary election in our own state held just two weeks ago.

Here are some sobering facts about this election. Three out of four adults didn't even bother to cast a ballot. So just one quarter of Washington's voting-age population decided who would be the major party candidates for the November showdown. Except that really wasn't the case in 30 percent of the seats for the Legislature.

In 39 seats out of 124, only one party filed a candidate. So when the people get around to voting in the November election, several hundred thousand won't even have a choice for legislative candidates.

If you live in Edmonds, Lynnwood or Mukilteo, you can vote for Paull Shin (D) for Senate, Mary Helen Roberts (D) for Representative Position 1 and Brian Sullivan (D) for Representative Position 2. Or don't vote; it won't make a difference. Other examples abound.

National commentators have pointed out how Democrats and Republicans have ceded states to each other - the Democrats have given up on the South, the Republicans have written off New England - and this leads to a few key states as the battlegrounds for control of Congress and the presidency. We have our own version of this in Washington, with the Democrats all but giving up on Eastern Washington and the Republicans steadily pulling away from Seattle and its suburbs, leaving only a handful of districts with real contests.

Both parties benefit from this status quo, because it enables them to target their resources in a limited number of races, knowing that their candidates are either shoo-ins or else hopeless or nonexistent in other districts.

One might think that every 10 years this comfortable calculus would be broken up by redistricting and a new slicing and dicing of the districts. In our state, we have avoided the partisan battles of redistricting because we have a bipartisan redistricting commission, with both parties evenly represented.

But what this has led to is redistricting that focuses primarily on incumbency protection for both parties. This reinforces the diminishing choice for voters when it comes to whom they can vote for in November. The two parties enjoy a shared monopoly on candidate selection, which translates for many of us into a one-party "democratic" choice.

This monopoly on candidates extends down into county government. In Clallam County (Port Angeles and Sequim), no Democrat is running for prosecuting attorney and no Republican is running for county commissioner in District 3.

In Snohomish County, no Republican candidate is running for prosecuting attorney. In Benton County, no Democrats filed for county assessor, county auditor, county clerk, county commissioner in District 2, county sheriff or county treasurer.

Pierce County is especially free of voter choice. No Republican is running for prosecuting attorney or for County Council District 5. No Democrat is running in District 7. And in County Council District 1, where Shawn Bunney (R) won with less than 48 percent of the vote in 2002, the Democrats don't even have a candidate this year.

This Democrat-Republican duopoly is not good for democracy. Not only does it limit our choice, it also creates an incentive for each party to reinforce the status quo. Politics becomes devoted to holding onto or slightly increasing partisan majorities. Policy is decided by who has money for campaigns, how they can be brought into a winning coalition, who not to offend and what little steps are necessary to keep supporters on board.

Is it any surprise that voters recycle their absentee ballots instead of taking the time to mark them? When the races are already decided, why bother?

John Burbank, executive director of the Economic Opportunity Institute (www.eoionline.org), writes every other Wednesday. Write to him in care of the institute at 1900 Northlake Way, Suite 237, Seattle, WA 98103. His e-mail address is john@eoionline.org.
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