Here in Oregon we vote in the privacy of our own homes. Or any other damn place that we choose, since our oh-so-enlightened state is 100% vote by mail in every election.
Yesterday my ballot arrived in the mail.
Being eager to vote ASAP, almost immediately I sat down at our dining room table, a pen with black ink in hand, so I could put my ballot in a mailbox on my way back from a Thursday evening Tai Chi class.
I can't say it was a highly emotional experience. But I did have some clear feelings as I filled in my choices for a variety of races in our rural south Salem area.
In the Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District (a new district, so no incumbent), I was thrilled to see that Carrick Flynn was near the bottom of the list of candidates, because we've been getting an annoyingly large number of mailings from Flynn, along with noting his annoyingly large number of political ads on TV.
The order in which names appear on a ballot is determined by a random ordering of the letters of the alphabet by the Secretary of State office. It was nice to see that the amount of money Flynn has attracted both for his campaign and independent expenditures by a Flynn-loving PAC (obviously) wasn't able to overcome randomness.
When voting for Democratic candidates unopposed in the primary -- probably because the positions they're seeking are in a Republican-leaning area -- I sent each candidate this thought:
Thanks so much for running for this office. It takes a lot of commitment of time, energy, and money. I hope you win in November, but even if you don't, you're a winner just for choosing to put your name on the ballot and stand up for Democratic values.
Vance Day is a jerk of an ex-judge, which made it a delight to vote for his opponent. My compassionate Buddha-nature came into play when I carefully filled in the box for each incumbent judge running unopposed.
Even though a lazy part of my mind briefly considered not voting for races with a foregone conclusion, I quickly tamped that part down by envisioning how the incumbent would feel if they look at the election results and see that many people didn't vote in their race.
Ooh! It was thrilling to see my wife, Laurel Hines, on the same ballot as candidates for Oregon Governor and Senator. Sure, Precinct Committee Person is a bit (OK, a lot) lower on the political totem pole, but, hey, it's an elected office.
Looks like Laurel, along with our neighbor Amy Urban, have excellent chances of winning, since you're supposed to vote for eight and they're the only two people listed.
As far as I can tell, the main qualification for the position is being willing to sit through lengthy mostly-boring Zoom meetings with your fellow Democratic precinct committee people. That disqualifies me, but I admire everyone who volunteers to do this mostly thankless job.
Comments