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So, a couple of weeks ago, the mailman delivered absentee ballots for the Presidential Primary. It seemed Washington State had changed from the caucus system, and I was glad.

But, no. Apparently, state law requires absentee ballots be distributed for the primary; yet political parties don’t have to honor them. The parties are free to determine their delegates at their discretion. Democrats are using the caucus system exclusively and Republicans are splitting their delegates between the caucus and mailed ballots.

I went to the 2004 caucus, and even served as a Kerry delegate at the Whatcom County Democratic Convention. Frankly, I didn’t care for the caucus experience. I had a city councilman yell at me for some reason (still not sure why), and then some wacky woman tried to get me to change my vote.

Well, the 2008 Washington State primary caucus was yesterday. I decided to skip it. Not because I am indifferent to politics, or this election, but because I don’t like the way the primaries are carried out. I don’t know how much is wasted to distribute 3.4 million mailed ballots (money, paper, effort…). But it seems pretty silly.

I understand the attraction to the caucus system. It makes sense to pay a little price for democracy. You go, and raise your hand for the person you want to represent you. The problem is that realistically, you’re going to get a pretty small percentage of the electorate. You lose cats like me who don’t like to argue for the sake of attention. And that’s what goes on in my opinion.

I like ballot boxes. Even though they’re less public, you still have to make the effort to go to the polling station. The problem is the sadly small percentage of people who participate with this method in general elections. Assuming the goal is to get more people to vote, I think it is OK to make the process easier. Enter absentee ballots.

Except for the most lazy and apathetic people, absentee ballots should garner the highest voter turnout. I am totally in favor of this. Which is why I filled out and returned my 2008 primary absentee ballot the day it arrived, only to find out later I wasted my stamp.

In an ideal world, everyone would come out and raise their hand to pick their leader. But in reality, the absentee ballot makes sense in getting more people to participate. As long as the Washington State democrats decide to honor them.

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