For fashion-conscious voters this fall, anger is the new black.
Take the Island County voter who scrawled with black marker on the envelope containing his absentee ballot for the primary election, “I won’t vote this Nazi ballot.”
In Snohomish County, voters used all shades of ballpoint in their protest slogans, including “This primary sucks” and “Won’t participate!!”
In Arlington, Jamie Banks is choosing red to rebel.
“I’m just an old Southern Democrat from Texas, and this flat-ass ain’t right,” drawls the 52-year-old owner of Jamie’s Small Engine Repair. “I will write on my ballot, ‘This is not constitutional.’ We should be able to vote for anyone we dang well please.”
For Banks, like so many others, the arrival of the ballot awakened him to the reality that the Washington primary he’s known and loved for years is gone.
I spent a few minutes giving Banks a tutorial on how leaders and lawyers of his party and those in the Republican and Libertarian parties sued four years ago to change the rules, and won.
Posing as devil’s advocate, I said most folks do align themselves with a party even if they refuse to declare any allegiance publicly, so what’s the big deal? And I argued that there is the fear that the old way let Republicans pick Democratic nominees, and vice versa.
I didn’t sway Banks’ heart.
I suggested he boycott any race in which he had to pick a party and skip to the last section of the ballot with the judicial races and the city of Arlington measure for paramedic service.
But I don’t think I succeeded there, either. “They took away my right to choose,” he said. “That just ruffles my feathers but good.”
While Banks is protesting by mail, on Sept. 14 it could be messier when tens of thousands of voters arrive at polling places and are stunned by the change. A few testy folks may want to give somebody a piece of their mind.
Bracing for that potential, on Thursday Snohomish County will, for the first time, provide anger management training to poll workers.
Venting on poll inspectors is unruly. These folks, who make $138 for a 15-hour day in Snohomish County, are not the tailors of the new order.
If you want to call someone, try Paul Berendt, leader of the state Democratic Party, or Chris Vance, his Republican counterpart. Need their numbers? Berendt’s is 206-583-0664 and Vance’s is 206-575-2900. Or e-mail paul@wa-democrats.org or chairmanvance@wsrp.org.
If you contact them, don’t waste time trying to convince them to give back the old primary. They can’t, and they won’t. Better to learn what’s next on their agenda. Find out when they will begin to try to have us sign up with one party when registering to vote. That’s coming.
I mentioned this to Jamie Banks. That was like throwing gasoline on the fire.
“You’re getting me madder and madder,” he said. “When did we become communist? They’re starting to tell us how to vote and who we can vote for.”
Reporter Jerry Cornfield’s column on politics runs every Sunday. He can be heard at 7 a.m. Monday on the “Morning Show” on KSER (90.7 FM). He can be reached at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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