Want to Stop the Phone Calls? Vote!

WITH THE GENERAL ELECTION just around the corner, our community’s phone lines are busy with calls from campaigns, and our mailboxes are stuffed with glossy candidate photos. These are all last ditch efforts by campaign advocates to win over voters.

What you may not realize is that the phone will stop ringing, and your mailbox will again be empty, once you vote.

How you vote is not public information. But whether you have voted or not is. And after ballots are mailed, campaigns use that information to target their calls and mailers to those residents who have not yet returned their ballot. So if you are eager for people to stop contacting you this election cycle, then simply vote. If you are unable to mail your ballot, you can drop your ballot at a number of locations. More information here: http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections.aspx.

The choice our community faces this election year is a choice between two very different visions for the future of our state and our country. It is, essentially, a choice between moving forward by building on progressive values and moving backward.

Our community is under attack by moneyed interests who are bent on dismantling a half-century of progress. Established programs such as Medicare, social security, and women’s rights are now, to the conservative base, on the chopping block.

It is not enough, as a community, that we simply stand still. And it certainly is not enough that we take the leaps backwards that many candidates this year propose. We must fight for progressive values, such as healthcare for all, education for all, for just and sustainable economic policies, and for marriage equality, that better – not hinder – our lives.

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Trent Latta is an attorney and Kirkland resident. He can be contacted at TrentLatta@gmail.com.