This race has been in the paper for weeks, months. The candidates have been walking precincts, sending brochures, attending debates and forums all winter and spring. The Democrats endorsed the incumbent. How could she not know who she wanted to vote for?
It turns out she was what's known as a "confidential voter," who doesn't show up on the voter roles because of some issue of safety, say a stalker, or a bad domestic violence situation you are escaping from. So she received none of the usual materials from candidates.
However, she is on our Democratic email list. She can read the local press. She can attend candidate events, and she could have asked friends, neighbors, or others she trusted. Instead she saw only TV ads, and decided she trusted neither candidate. My mind was exploding. This promises to be a close race. How could an otherwise educated, seemingly informed and involved person, be so unconcerned about the one race that will actually affect her life?
Votes are still being counted all over California which allows vote by mail ballots to be postmarked on Election Day so long as they arrive within three days. But it looks to be a low turn-out election, even with all the hype about the possibility of "a big blue wave." We are heartened that in some red districts, Democrats are in second place in some contests for Congress, but that will mean we have to get out our voters in November in big numbers to have a chance.
This woman will help out with that effort. She is very concerned that we take back the house. Why oh why then, I think, does she not even bother to learn about what's happening in her own back yard? elections have been won and lost by a single vote. Your vote does count. When will people get it?
