By The Herald Editorial Board
You’ve noticed, of course, all the media attention on the 2024 election, specifically the presidential election and all its “horse-race” talk of polls and predictions, as if that election wasn’t some 17 months away.
As important as that election will be, let’s focus attention on more immediate concerns; for example the 2023 elections, one of which is coming in weeks rather than months. Yes, summer is less than a week away, but the first of the year’s two citizen civics exams — the primary election — is set for Tuesday, Aug. 1, and it’s time to start studying.
For Snohomish County voters, these odd-year elections lack the big-name contests for national and state offices, but they are no less important than picking the next president, member of Congress, governor or state legislator. These elections are typically reserved for local offices, and this year’s ballot features county, city, school board, port and other local district races that have direct effect on daily life in your community.
And don’t think you can beg out of participating in the primary figuring you can wait for the general election in November to have your say. The problem with that bit of procrastination is that it leaves some important decisions — narrowing the field of candidates to two choices — to those who do participate in the primary.
Consider the last off-year local election in 2021; overall turnout in the county was pretty low, just 27 percent; 137,000 of the county’s 507,600 registered voters returned their ballots in the primary. Return rates were even lower in specific races. For Everett’s mayoral race, choosing among three candidates to determine the top two for the general election, only 23.4 percent voted. For one city council race, only 21.5 percent returned ballots. That means that fewer than 1 in 4 registered voters determined the two candidates who would make it through to the general election.
Primary voters carry a lot of clout and will be deciding who’ll be on the general election ballot in these races (view a sample ballot at tinyurl.com/SnoCo2023PrimaryBallot):
Voters in Snohomish County will determine who will serve as county executive and in the District 2 of the county council; as well as the office of the county auditor, which administers elections, among other duties.
Also on the primary ballot is a race for Superior Court Judge, Position 17; and several city-level races for council and mayor’s office, including Edmonds mayor, Everett city council and school board races in school districts in Edmonds, Everett, Marysville, Monroe, Northshore, Snohomish, Stanwood and Sultan.
And the Port of Everett has a race for District 2 of its board of commissioners.
As well, several fire districts are going to their voters to consider passage of property tax levies to support fire protection and emergency medical services.
With that many names and issues on the ballot, fortunately there’s help available as you make your picks. Voters can expect their printed voters guide to be mailed by July 12, with the ballots following the next day. General information on elections, including how to register to vote, is available at tinyurl.com/SnoCoElex.
Beginning next month, The Daily Herald’s editorial board will begin publishing its endorsements for candidates in county, city, school board and port races.
In making endorsements, candidates are interviewed by the board. As often as possible, those interviews are conducted with candidates jointly, but schedules sometimes require separate meetings with the board.
Candidates are invited by email through the email address provided when filing for office. When candidates do not respond to an invitation or decline an invitation, that will be noted in the published endorsement. Endorsement interviews are a courtesy provided to candidates and intended as a service to Herald readers.
While the editorial board will endorse specific candidates, it makes every effort to fairly represent the qualifications, past experience and positions of all candidates interviewed, allowing voters to weigh those responses as part of their consideration of which candidates they will support. As well, voters can expect The Daily Herald’s reporting staff to provide candidate profiles and campaign coverage in the coming weeks.
Voters also have a wealth of information available thanks to the Snohomish County League of Women Voters, with the assistance of the Sultan School District and its TurkPride.tv Broadcast Club, who have scheduled a number of moderated candidate forums. The forums will be live-streamed but also available for later viewing at the league’s YouTube channel at tinyurl.com/SCLWV2023Forums. A schedule for the forums, starting June 20 and continuing through July 13, is available at tinyurl.com/SCLWV2023Sked.
We urge county residents to register to vote if they haven’t yet done so and to use that right to vote to help choose the officials who represent you and make decisions on your behalf. But key to using that right is gathering the necessary information to make informed and reasoned choices. That takes effort, but it ensures satisfaction with the choices each of us makes in marking our ballots.
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in a 1938 speech regarding the importance of education.
At a time when personalities and prejudices can carry unjustified weight in our considerations, our attention needs to be on candidates’ statements, qualifications and practiced values.
Your vote — an informed vote — is essential.
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