February 12, 2008
Don't Throw Away Your Presidential Primary Ballot!
Some much-needed clarification on the primary/caucus fiasco:
Washington holds both caucuses and a primary in order to decide how to allocate its delegates for the presidential candidates. We hope you were able to make it to your caucus on Saturday to cast your vote for the Democratic/Republican presidential candidate of your choice. You should have picked a party, gone to the designated caucus location for your precinct, and written in your choice next to your name and address. Possibly, you stayed to argue and convince some of your neighbors to vote for your chosen candidate. Fun! Record turn-out, too.
The primary is coming up on February 19th, and you have the option to participate in that election too. It is entirely legal to vote in both the caucus and the primary. The only catch is that you must vote within the same party as you did during the caucuses. The Presidential Primary is a useful tool for Republicans: according to the WA State Elections Board, Republicans "will use the primary results to allocate 51% of its delegates. The remaining 49% of the delegates will be allocated based on caucus results."
The Presidential Primary is a beauty contest for Democrats, and does not actually count towards the party's choice of candidates. However, Clinton's campaign is (apparently unofficially) encouraging Democrats to vote in the statewide presidential primary. The thought from the Clinton campaign here could be that maybe the disenfranchised voters who were not able to vote in the caucus will be able to cast a ballot in the primary, and that maybe those disenfranchised voters will be Clinton supporters. If Clinton wins or makes a significant gain on Obama in the primary, even though the ballots don't actually count towards delegate allocation, her campaign could use that as some powerful PR.
We've already mailed in our absentee ballot for the primary. As an Obama supporter, our reasoning is this: why not win both the caucus delegations and the beauty contest? Why not send a clear message to the Clinton campaign that it wasn't the electoral system that caused her loss? The government has already paid for the primary ballots, and for the labor hours to count them. It's money spent. Democrats might as well use those absentee ballots that wafted through our doors a couple weeks ago. (And Republicans, all three of you who read Seattlest: you should definitely use your ballot or hit up a polling location on the 19th, because this time your vote will count again towards a party decision.)
That's the Presidential Primary Seal, from the Washington State Elections Board. Check out their website for more information.
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Thank you for posting this! And a big ole' "F YOU" to the state Dems for having ON THEIR WEBSITE "You may have received an absentee ballot for the February 19th Primary. The Primary will not count toward picking the Democratic candidate."
This is what they say as an explanation:
Why is Washington State having Caucuses and a Primary? The Washington State Legislature was the body who voted to hold a primary. The means that the Washington State Democratic Party, which chooses how delegates are decided, had no participation in the decision to hold the primary, which will cost $9 to $10 million. The Washington State Democratic Party decided to choose their delegates through the Caucuses, as it always has. As a result, your vote for a Democratic candidate in the State Primary will not count toward delegate selection.
So this is a pissing contest between the state party and the Leg? One of the reasons that I support Obama is that I am sick and tired of this kind of boondoggle and I think he has a better shot to rise above that and actually get something done (witness his willingness to go to "red" states to campaign rather than just blowing them off because "we won't win them in November anyway").
VOTE.
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Here's another idea - Democrats who did not participate in the Democratic caucuses may wish to cast their ballots for Huckabee. A win for Huckabee in the primaries is like a win for the Democrats in the election.
I think it's legal too.
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The primary still doesn't technically matter, but in the PR war, which is almost as important, a massive win here could give Hillary some much-needed ammo. Don't let her get away with this BS. Just vote.
If you've already tossed that ballot out, you can go to the King County Elections site or call 296-VOTE to get a new one. If you don't live in King County, the Secretary of State says, "Contact your County Auditor's Office for a replacement ballot. If you would like a replacement ballot to be mailed to you, do not wait until the day before the election to request one. If there is not enough time to receive a replacement ballot by mail, you may pick one up in person."