Apparently State Senator Steve Hobbs (D-44), whose district is found entirely within Snohomish County, doesn't realize that Snohomish County (like most of Washington State) is all vote-by-mail,* because he introduced a bill asking the federal legislature to make election day a national holiday.
The bill is just completely bizarre in its total inapplicability to Hobbs' own constituents:
WHEREAS, The opportunity to participate in the electoral process, and the act of voting that embodies that opportunity, represent the cornerstone of our democracy, and voters should have ample opportunity to cast meaningful votes
... which they can do for two weeks leading up to election day by mail, or five days in person ...
and WHEREAS, Fostering a high voter turnout is crucial in order to ascertain with greatest certainty the political will of the voting public; and WHEREAS, Voter turnout in Washington's general elections has varied from as high as 82% in presidential elections to as low as 52% in other elections; and WHEREAS, Increasing voter turnout can be directly linked to the ease with which voters can cast their ballots
... which this bill will do nothing to affect ...
and WHEREAS, Although employers are required to allow employees to take time off of work in order to vote, a temporary absence from work may pose hardships for employers, and employees may be reluctant to request time off
... which is absolutely unnecessary ...
and WHEREAS, More public buildings, especially schools, would be available for use as polling places; and more, better trained poll workers, including patriotic high school and college students, might be available to staff polling places on election day
... even though we only have 10 polling places in the entire county anyway, and no shortage of places to put them, or people to staff them ...
Regardless of the merits of the idea, it is very odd to see someone introduce a bill like this that has absolutely no applicability to his own constituents; and when King goes to all-mail, then this would represent Washington State petitioning the federal government to impose a federal holiday on the rest of the nation for something that doesn't have any effect on Washington State.
* I personally don't vote by mail. I never have. I vote in person: Snohomish County always has several days of polling places around the county leading up to election day (what it calles Disabled Access Voting sites) as required by federal law.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Posted by pudge at February 07, 2008 09:11 AM | Email ThisJeff B. heh. :-)
Posted by: pudge on February 7, 2008 09:25 AMFurther, it was written by a 17-year-old high school student from Snohomish.
Every year, 50 or so Snohomish High School students visit the Capitol and ask Legislators to support legislation they have written as part of a class project.
Senator Hobbs agreed to pick one and drop it in the hopper. This was it.
Posted by: Kevin on February 7, 2008 10:08 AMIf our ballots are received and accepted, we get the two weeks pay, if we don't vote, no pay.
Think registration and turn-out would go up?
More seriously, this is a bloody stupid resolution coming from a government that took away the right to vote at polling centers.
Since it would have absolutely no effect on their constituents, it is a waste of time, cynical, and rather insulting. One of the stated reasons for all-mail balloting was to alleviate the problem of not being able to get off work to go to the polls.
Just like with our sales tax, watch the Feds pass a law for a day off, but it only applies to states with polling locations - not all-mail states.
Posted by: SouthernRoots on February 7, 2008 10:11 AMYou would think he would have told the young man that can't be done. But remember were talking Dem's here.
It's all Government all the time.
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on February 7, 2008 10:12 AMHow 'bout we use some of the time we waste herein? :)
Posted by: Duffman on February 7, 2008 10:21 AMYes, that is the point of it.
It's not a bill, it's a non-binding joint memorial.
A joint memorial is a type of bill.
Further, it was written by a 17-year-old high school student from Snohomish.
Shrug. It's under his name.
Sounds to me like Steve Hobbs is thrashing around trying to prove to the voters of the 44th that they didn't make a mistake when they replaced Senator Schmidt.
By trying to do something that has no effect on voters in the 44th? :-)
Posted by: pudge on February 7, 2008 11:40 AMI was talking to a friend who works for the postal service the other day, and I was just stunned how many days they are off. They get 3 weeks vacation right off the bat (4 weeks after 3 (maybe 5) years), all the federal holidays, and 2 weeks of sick days (that most people take when they are not sick).
Posted by: DopioLover on February 7, 2008 01:11 PMHeck you think they get a ton of time off. Look at the teachers. Everytime I drive by one of our schools they either have a half day or another day off. It's know wonder the kids know zip!
Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on February 7, 2008 01:19 PMIt would help if you knew what you were talking about, especially if you are going to whine about random legislation that is obviously not progressing or being actively worked.
Would it have been too difficult for you to talk about Hobbs' work for veterans or his property tax rebate - of course, this would require researching actual BILLS that he is working as part of his legislative agenda - instead of picking apart the work of some high school kid's school project?
Or is it easier just to shoot your mouth off without figuring out what is really going on? Without making a call to Hobbs to ask him what the deal is?
But the again, coming from someone who thinks that a memorial is a type of bill, I guess keen legislative insight is not to be expected.
Posted by: DGame on February 7, 2008 02:33 PMRegardless: how does it matter? I made clear that it was non-binding, because it is merely a request to the federal government. No one was confused by the wording.
And hey, you work for Hobbs: if you don't like it, fine, then send me press releases when he does great things. I saw something I thought was funny, so I posted it. I don't know why you think it is exceptional: this does nothing for any of his constituents, and in that way, considering how many of us on this site are angry about all-mail voting, it is noteworthy.
Posted by: pudge on February 7, 2008 02:51 PM(well technically my ideal world would not have a tax day since it just funds unnecessary programs - Vote for Ron Paul to kill the income tax and replace it with a smaller government!)
Posted by: Lysander on February 8, 2008 07:02 AM