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It Is a New Year — Don’t Forget to Vote

Every vote counts!

Perhaps most of you don’t know that I twice ran for political office. Yes, Port of Tacoma commissioner; it was a number of years ago. I lost both times, but it was something I wanted to do, and I thought I could make a positive difference.

Why am I writing about voting today? I read an article about how in Arizona the attorney general election in 2022 was decided by 280 votes out of 2.5 million votes cast. Every vote does count!

When I would be out campaigning, I ran into many, many people who said, “I don’t vote, my vote does not count.”

When I talk about citizenship, I say, “Every citizen has a requirement to vote, pay taxes and serve in the military when called (if capable, of course).” Those benefits and duties come with citizenship.

Yes, let me affirm one more time: Your vote does count, you matter and democracy matters. Vote in 2023, even if you have not done so for many years.

Want to know what “down ballot” means? It is the local government positions, like port commissioner, where people give up voting after they voted for president, senator, congressional representative, governor, etc. Many people stop voting as they go down that list. Don’t complain about who serves you if you did not participate in selecting your candidate. Vote — all the way down the ballot!
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.