According to the Washington Secretary of State there was an 81.16 percent voter turnout this general election, with 38.48 percent voting in the primaries.  The turnout drops significantly in non-presidential elections, showing a 52.95 percent statewide turnout for the 2011 elections. Media outlets stream countless hours of airtime and news reports on the presidential race, which in turn convinces unassuming citizens that the big election is the important one. A month has passed since the election; the pinnacle of citizen’s democratic participation has come and gone. Clearly there have been...

Not to generalize, but Puget Sound is known for its progressive minded students, and hey, that often means voting Democrat with social issues in mind, like reproductive justice. And for some of us who have not taken the chance to sit down and earnestly interpret our complimentary voter’s guide, perhaps plan on voting a straight democratic ticket. Alas, you reach a point on your ballot when—gasp—two Democrats are running against each other. The seat is for State Senate, and the contenders are Jeannie Darneille and Jack Connelly. This election women’s...

Referendum 74 is a hot issue on the ticket this election, plastering our LGBT friendly community with green Washington United For Marriage “I DO” bumper stickers and yard signs beaming with their slogan: “Equality for all loving couples.” But outside of our impenetrable bubble of open-minded academia, there exists a dark word of discriminatory, antiquated religious fanatics and anti-marriage equality bigots; namely, The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle. It may come as no surprise that both of these organizations are religiously based groups,...

The compulsory Presidential Debates are on the horizon with the first debate kicking off this Wednesday, October 3rd. It is a custom of our presidential election season, in which both the Republican and Democrat nominees’ standoff with proctored questions and address important issues at hand. It is a de facto aspect of the election procedure, without any constitutional mandate outlining the events. The debate is a great opportunity for voters to hear the nominees perspectives and even have personal questions answered; the only issue at hand is the exclusivity of...

The Presidential campaign in 2008 turned out historical numbers of youth and minority voters. A tremendous achievement for our nation! Engaging a record numbers of citizens in voter participation—assumedly a cross-party victory, right? Think again. Since President Obama’s election in ’08 many state legislatures, (cough, G.O.P politicians), have proposed and passed new voting laws requiring all voters to present state-issues photo id. The Brennan Center for Justice reports during this past year alone, more than two-dozen new voting laws have passed in 19 states. Ostensibly harmless laws; however, restrictions that have...