Letter from the President
Caucus system is a relic of the past; let's scrap it
By CHRIS DUGOVICH
Chris Dugovich
Council 2 President/
Executive Director
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AS I drove past Kamiak High School at close to two hours prior to the start of the caucus on Saturday February 9, you could already see a lot of activity for a Saturday morning. The 4-A High School is one of the state’s largest with more than 2,000 students attending during the day. There’s always something going on but nothing that brings in the number of people like this year’s caucuses did.
I jumped in my car at 12:45 to proceed the approximate 1½ miles to my caucus. After proceeding a couple of blocks my driving progress quickly stopped. A traffic jam leading back as far as I could see was not going anywhere on the main drag leading to the high school. At this point it would have been quicker and more successful to walk from my home. Maybe even borrow one of my kids’ bikes.
However I was stuck. So, knowing the subdivisions, I cut through the residential streets, reached within a mile of the school, parked and joined the growing number of people walking on the sidewalks. After a brisk march, I finally made it into a packed cafeteria to hear the final minutes of a surprise speech by Governor Gregoire. I arrived at 1:20 with 10 minutes to spare.
One thing was certain. The facility, the parking, the general accessibility was clearly overwhelmed. Later I heard estimates of attendees as high as 7,000 at Kamiak. I’d say 3,500 tops. I watched dozens of cars U-turn their way out of the mess while walking up to the caucus, in addition to observing many less vigorous citizens who gave up once they realized the length of the walk.
Once you did make it to the caucus, the cafeteria and the gymnasium were filled and very few people could hear or follow the proceedings. At one point at my precinct table somebody misplaced a sign-up sheet so a roll call was necessary and an additional sign-up sheet was needed for a few individuals.
In general, the press reported the huge numbers and a big turnout, but what they didn’t report was that only approximately 10 percent of registered voters took part statewide, clearly surpassing the old caucus record. However, that is 1 million fewer voters than took part in our State’s 2000 presidential primary.
The bottom line is that it’s a bad system that on one hand touted large numbers but really was a dismal turnout if compared to primary participation numbers.
Communities don’t have adequate facilities even for these numbers. My endurance test at Kamiak was duplicated at the Memorial Coliseum in Everett and hundreds of locations across the state. Countless numbers of our members and others are excluded due to their work schedules. The trend in absentee voting and all-mail ballots clearly shows that the easier it is to vote the bigger the turnout. Two hours in a packed facility filling out forms and trying to hear what’s going on is not the way to include large numbers of people or make a rational representative decision.
The people who like it are the parties. It gives them control and they believe it builds participation. What it really does is turn a lot of people off by the time and energy one needs to devote to the process.
It’s time for the political parties to recognize the fact that it’s the 21st Century and scrap this relic of the past. How about a meaningful primary next time so the average individual with a real life doesn’t have to devote half a day, be in excellent physical shape, have super hearing and the patience of Job to participate in a caucus.
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