By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
How much responsibility should a government have for informing its constituents? It's a complex question that covers some complex topics. Public records issues in our fine state come to mind.
But the question is also pertinent this week as Washington voters sit down to fill out their ballots. This year, the state of Washington has not printed a voter's guide for next week's primary election. I've heard some complaints about using the online voters' guide, and others about the extra step it requires for voters to get informed.
Maybe there are folks out there who would definitely leaf through the paper voters' guide if it arrived in their mailbox, but would not take the extra step to get online and click through it. Could a lack of printed voters' guide reduce the number of informed voters, or even the number of voters who realize there's an election? We don't know, because that particular issue has not been analyzed.
Secretary of State Sam Reed predicted a higher-than-average 46 percent voter turnout in the primary, citing high profile state races as well as heightened awareness during a presidential election year. But the Spokesman-Review reported Monday that Spokane County returns were more than 2 percent behind the pace set in 2008, the last presidential election year.
The lack of printed voters' guide could have something to do with that. But it's difficult to know for sure, and the state says it saved $1 million by not printing it for the primary. That brings me back to my original question: how much should the government do to inform voters?
The full voters' guide is online, and Reed has pointed out that the web offers more features, including a video guide and links to campaign finance data. Additionally, there are more people online than ever before, and Washington residents lead the nation.
According to the 2010 census, Washington was one of the top states in terms of internet access and reported usage. Seventy-three percent of residents said they had internet access in their home.
One could argue that access to voter information should not be subject to access to an internet connection. Low-income citizens may not have the money to pay for internet, nor the time to trek to the public library to do their research. It's a valid argument and one for which I don't have an easy answer.
Generally, the people who typically read the paper voters' guide will take the extra step to type “vote.wa.gov” into their search bar and navigate through the candidates' pages. The bigger problem may be the people who say they never got their voters' guide as an excuse for not voting. As citizens of this country, we all have a responsibility to be informed and to vote.
Secretary of State Reed has promised a return of the printed voters' guide in November. And if you're really missing that paper-and-ink periodical, you can always come rummage through issues of the Cheney Free Press from the last several weeks. I seem to recall doing some of my own voter-guiding, but only on the local issues. If you want to know who's running for secretary of state, you'll have to go online.
Reader Comments(0)