Nancy Churchill believes your vote is more powerful this year

Nancy Churchill
Dangerous Rhetoric

On the national stage, we are already preparing for the 2024 presidential election. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and distraction surrounding that event. However, the 2023 off-year local elections will have a greater impact on you personally, and you can have a greater impact on the outcome of your local races than you will ever have in a national or state election.

Big numbers, diluted power

The United States Census Bureau reports that there were approximately 154 million votes cast nationally in the 2020 general election (US. Census Bureau, Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2020). Your vote in the presidential race was 1 out of 154 million cast. You probably never met the candidates personally, and you probably didn’t know anyone who knew them personally. It’s important to vote in nationwide races, but lots and lots of like minded people are needed to win a national race. Your vote is very important, but your impact is diluted by the large number of participants.

It’s a similar story at the state level. In 2020, roughly 3.8 million Washingtonians voted. Your vote for the governor race was 1 of 3.8 million, better odds, but still a diluted impact. You do have a better chance of meeting the statewide candidates and you might even have known people who knew them personally and could give you some insight.

Small numbers, concentrated power

When we look at the off year (odd year) elections, we start to see the impact of our vote swing into our favor. At the county, city, school board, hospital board and fire district level, your vote starts to have a major impact! Take the time to look back at your county’s election results for 2021. In Washington state, you can find November 2, 2021 General Election Results, and use the “voter turnout” tab to find your county’s results.

My county, Ferry, had only 5,300 registered voters in 2021, and only 2,300 of them turned out to vote! That’s only 44 percent of the county stepping up to be local decision makers. And in the local races for school boards, hospital board, or city council seats the smaller jurisdictions included only had a fraction of the total voter turnout.

Our hospital board jurisdiction boundaries cover only half of our county, so the board members in contested races were chosen by only 1500 of their neighbors. And in such a small community, almost everyone knew at least one of the candidates personally, and usually we knew someone who knew the two candidates pretty well. In a race like that one, 751 votes are needed to win. Your one vote had a strong likelihood of being the one needed for a candidate to be elected. Most other Ferry County jurisdictions, like our school districts and city council races involve even smaller numbers, which makes your one vote and one voice even more powerful! And the local elected officials are much more responsive to their friends and neighbors who recognize them on the street and at the grocery store.

Local elections and local control

No matter what size county you live in, and no matter what state you live in, participating in your LOCAL off-year elections give you the best opportunity to have a BIG impact on the elected officials who will be making important decisions about your hospitals, fire services, city services, and schools. You can impact local taxation, development policies, and quality of life in a very powerful way. Local control and local participation in government is the gift that the founders gave us. If you love your community’s culture and way of life, and if you want to preserve and improve your community, then voting in the 2023 Elections is one of the most important ways to have a positive impact on your community. Small actions lead to big results.

In Washington state, voting begins on October 20. Vote early and then get your friends and neighbors to vote, too!

Nancy Churchill is the state committeewoman for the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at DangerousRhetoric@pm.me. The opinions expressed in Dangerous Rhetoric are her own.

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