Countywide voting will put more power in the hands of the people. The first Charter Amendment reduces the council from six members to three and requires that each council candidate be elected countywide. Opponents of the charter revisions have claimed that having all of the people voting for all three candidates would result in “unequal representation.” This is absolutely untrue. In fact, countywide voting means that every voter has equal power over his or her government.

The “unequal representation argument” rests on confusing representative districts, each one with its own council person who is accountable only to the voters in his or her own district, with residential districts. With countywide voting, the residential district is a means of ensuring that the largest community, San Juan, does not provide the successful candidates for all three council positions.  The largest community will continue to contribute the most votes and therefore collectively have the most influence, but the requirement that candidates come from the two smaller districts as well is a measure to ensure that a variety of viewpoints be expressed on the council.

Voting for this amendment means that all citizens in future elections will vote for all council members, as was the case before 2006. The candidates for all three positions must campaign in all three districts and gain an understanding of the diverse island communities in all three districts. In such a system each Council member equally represents all citizens of San Juan County.  In this way every voter is equal, and every Council member is accountable to all voters.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the fairness of countywide voting. For example, in Forston V. Dorsey, 379 U.S. 433 (1965) the Court stated the following:

“The statute uses districts in multi-district counties merely as the basis of residence for candidates, not for voting representation. Each district’s senator must be a resident of that district, but since his tenure depends upon the county-wide electorate he must be vigilant to serve the interests of all the people in the county, and not merely those of people in his home district; thus in fact he is the county’s and not merely the district’s senator.”

Countywide voting serves the best interests of all islanders. It gives citizens more control over their government, which was the stated goal of “Home Rule.” Please vote “YES” for the Charter Amendments!

Richard Ward

Lopez

Moana Kutsche

Stephen Garrison

Orcas