Parties battling over county voters

By Paul Queary

Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIA — Republican activists bus into Snohomish County from all over the state. Foot soldiers from the unions pound the same pavement for the Democrats. With light turnout expected in Tuesday’s off-year election and control of the Legislature on the line, party officials are concentrating on the basic political mechanics of getting out the vote.

Secretary of State Sam Reed predicts turnout of about 53 percent statewide, compared with more than 75 percent who turned out last year when the White House, the governor’s office and a U.S. Senate seat were on the line.

Officials in Snohomish County, where two elections will decide whether the state House stays tied 49-49, predict somewhat higher turnout of around 65 percent. But that would still leave plenty of voters on the sidelines — about 6,000 in each district — and getting them off the bench could mean the difference between winning and losing.

"Getting out the vote is the key to every close election, with the possible exception of a presidential November election, because everybody votes then," said Chris Vance, chairman of the Washington Republican Party. "It’s an arms race. It’s extremely competitive."

Get-out-the-vote efforts are traditionally the province of political parties that can use largely unregulated soft money, leaving candidates free to use direct contributions to promote themselves.

For this year’s final push, Vance arranged for buses to leave Spokane and Vancouver, stopping to pick up GOP loyalists along the way to Snohomish County. Teamed with volunteers from closer to the action, he expected more than 200 people to be knocking on doors in District 21, where Republican Joe Marine is trying to hold the House seat he was appointed to earlier this year, and District 38, where Erv Hoglund is trying to unseat appointed Democrat Jean Berkey.

Democrats are mounting a similar effort, only without the long-distance bus rides.

"If you have to import volunteers into the district to do your door-to-door, it’s not a very good campaign," said Berendt, who added that his party’s effort will rely on local volunteers and union activists in a district rich with labor households.

"If I had your typical Republican activist from Spokane or Vancouver showing up on my doorstep, that would be pretty scary. They’re probably packing heat or the Bible."

Vance says he is reaching across the state to counteract the labor unions that traditionally give Democrats an advantage in grass-roots campaigning.

"We have more grass-roots volunteers who are ideologically committed," Vance said. "What they have are paid union mercenaries."

Partisan mudslinging aside, both sets of volunteers will be trying to do essentially the same thing — get their faithful to vote.

The growth of absentee voting in Washington has changed the game. Bus rides to the polling place have been largely displaced by sophisticated campaigns to get those mail ballots stamped, sealed and delivered.

"We’ve spent a ton of money over the years encouraging known Republicans to become permanent absentee voters," Vance said. "Our doorbellers are going to carry stamps with them."

For months, party operatives have been working the phones and cranking out direct-mail pieces to their lists of voters. Because Washington has no party registration, the lists have been painstakingly compiled from phone surveys and other sources.

As absentee ballots arrive, people on those lists get reminded — both by mail and by phone — to send them in, Vance said. Then party operatives monitor ballots as they arrive at county auditors’ offices, ticking those who have voted off their lists.

So Democrats and Republicans won’t be knocking on every door this week, they’ll be focusing just on the voters who have left that absentee ballot lying on the kitchen counter and the stubborn traditionalists who insist on going to the polls.

And they’ll shun the homes of known opponents to avoid accidentally activating a dormant enemy.

"Knowing who the Republicans are is also very important so we know who to leave alone," Berendt said.

This painstaking process will continue into Election Day, Vance and Berendt say. Operatives will monitor the lists at precinct polling places, ticking off loyal voters as they cast their ballots.

At 5 p.m., Vance said, those who have stayed away get yet another call, with offers of rides to the polling place or even babysitting.

"We don’t know who you vote for, but we do know when you vote," Vance said.

Secretary of State: www.vote. wa.gov

Washington Republican Party: www.wsrp.org/

Washington Democratic Party: www.wa-democrats.org/