By Danny Westneat Seattle Times columnist (Thanks to MaryLou P.)
“A trickle of ballots so far for Washington’s primary,” read a concerning headline this week.
Immediately on opening a mail-in ballot for Tuesday’s election, you can see a problem. There are an eye-glazing 48 candidates listed for just the first four offices.
In all there were 90 candidates to choose from, at least on my ballot. I’m paid to follow politics, and I haven’t heard of maybe 60 of these people?
There are 28 souls vying just for governor. That race lists nine Democrats running, along with eight Republicans. (That’s if you count the guy running under the “Trump Republican Party.”) Then there’s a slew of cranks and dreamers representing the “Nonsense Busters Party,” the “Standup-America Party,” the “Independence Party,” and my favorite political oxymoron, the “Nonpartisan Party.” Plus many more.
“We’re on track for around 40% voter turnout, which is mildly disappointing given all that’s going on,” said Ben Anderstone, a Seattle political consultant who puts out a nightly ballot monitoring report. “Voter interest is down considerably at this point from 2020.”
Our August primary is often like this, equal parts bizarre and boring. But according to some election experts, it has become, at the same time, the most telling bellwether primary vote in the nation. (continued)
pardon my conspiracy clouded mind but this seems to be an effort to confuse the uninformed and result in an outlier candidate win a contest with a favored candidate.