Today is Election Day in Clark County, with ballots due for a variety of tax measures.
The Columbian’s Editorial Board has expressed support for Vancouver’s Proposition 3, which would extend and expand the Affordable Housing Fund. We also have editorially discussed some of the issues surrounding ballot measures.
But rather than rehash those issues, today we will echo our long-standing plea for all eligible voters to participate in the democratic process. Ballots returned by U.S. mail must be postmarked by today; or they may be dropped in an official ballot box (the red ones) by 8 p.m. tonight.
If you received a ballot in the mail, be sure to return it and make your voice heard. Look at it this way: When you don’t vote, somebody else is — and they are making decisions that will impact your life.
Yet while voting is a civic duty, the Legislature is considering an interesting corollary: Should voting be mandatory? That is the question behind Senate Bill 5209 and House Bill 1220.
The bills would require all eligible Washingtonians to register to vote. When a ballot arrives, voters would be required to return it — even if the ballot is left blank. Citizens could be permanently removed from the voter rolls by filing as a conscientious objector.
State Sen. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, said: “Just like paying taxes and signing up for the draft for all males, it’s just another civic duty that we would require people to do. Democracy and voting is a basic part of our country and the more we get involved, I think the better and the stronger our government is.”
Indeed, our system of government needs support. Americans are increasingly disengaged from their democracy, and that contributes to the discord and political violence that has become all too frequent. The concern is not so much that the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol took place; it’s that apathy on the part of the public will allow such attacks to become a normal part of the process.
Our government is better and stronger if more people are engaged with it. But required voting seems an odd means to that end.
Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview and ranking member of the Senate State Government and Elections Committee, told Northwest News Network: “To me, this is an unconstitutional, un-American distraction. Of course, you have the right to speak, you have the right to vote, but you also have the same right to not. Sometimes silence is golden. Sometimes silence can be measured. But it certainly shouldn’t be expected in the form of a ballot.”
According to Northwest News Service, about 25 counties — but no states — across the nation have compulsory voting. And some two dozen countries around the world require people of voting age to cast a ballot.
The issue warrants discussion, but the bills being considered in the Legislature can — and should — be dismissed as unserious. Failing to return a ballot would carry no penalty, leaving the potential law as nothing more than a strongly worded suggestion. But if it generates serious discussion about how to get Americans more engaged with the process, it will be beneficial.
One way is to bolster civics education in schools — a step the Legislature has taken in recent years. Other methods also have been used in Washington, with universal vote-by-mail and simplified voter registration.
But in the end, there is only so much elected officials can do to boost voter turnout. It is up to the public to recognize the importance of participating.
