📢 Cascadia Voices 08/01/26

Perhaps — noting the Joni Mitchell Theory of Threatened Supply (“You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone”) — President Trump may ironically drive increased election turnout this year in Washington and other states with his constitutionally questionable demand to Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court to allow federal rules that would restrict elections, particularly rules that would severely limit the use of mail-in ballots. Vote while you can?

As alarming as it is as a technique for motivating popular sovereignty, the increased turnout Trump might inspire wouldn’t be an unwelcome outcome. Voter turnout in last year’s election was dismal. Only 45% of voters in Whatcom County turned out for the General Election, and a shade under 40% in Skagit County. The numbers for the primary last year were even lower; 31% in Whatcom, and not even 24% in Skagit. Granted, 2025 was an off-year election with no national or statewide races; still, in those counties, 2024’s Primary Election — with high-profile national and state races — managed only 45% and 43%, respectively.

What’s it going to take to get more state residents to register and then vote in elections at all levels where that act can deliver the good government everyone desires?

CDN’s Civic Minded columnist Vesla Tonnessen suggests in her Opinion column this week that a lighter-hearted attitude to submitting a ballot might encourage more folks to keep the spark going in their pursuit of happiness:

“My goal is to try and romance you into voting in the primaries,” she writes. “I feel that in order to improve this democracy, we have to love it — and loving it is a practice. Be romantic. Take your time with this process … I’m asking you to court your ballot a little.”

If you haven’t done so, research and make your choices, mark your ballot and return it to a county drop box before 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4. Then, follow cascadiadaily.com/elections for primary election results and more coverage — including our Citizens Agenda process — leading up to the General Election.

Katy Potts, who serves as chief of police for Western Washington University’s police department, recently attended a conference of campus law enforcement officials, during which she learned of the death of Connie Clery. Clery was the mother of a student at a Pennsylvania university who in 1986 was raped and murdered in her dorm room. Following that loss, Clery pushed and lobbied Congress for years to pass the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Disclosure Act, which since its adoption in 2014 requires higher education institutions to publicly disclose crime statistics, timely warn of ongoing public safety threats, maintain crime logs and publish annual security reports.

As students and their families start preparations for the new school year, Potts praises the act’s mandates: “These are not just checkboxes; they are tools that empower students, families and employees to make informed decisions about their safety.”

It also inspires a rededication by campus public safety officers and officials and forges stronger ties with students and communities, she writes.

“I see the impact of this law every day. Our officers do more than just patrol the university grounds; we strive to build relationships and partner with campus groups because safety is not just about response; it is about presence, trust and visibility. The Clery Act supports that work by ensuring transparency. When our community sees the data, reads the warnings and knows their rights, they are more likely to come forward, to report and to partner with us.”

Judicial candidates face a key campaign constraint in that they are not supposed to make specific promises about how they would rule if elected. Because of this, it can be difficult to decide whom to vote for, and we look to endorsements and judicial experience. The League of Women Voters of Washington did short interviews of candidates which you can access through the local league’s voter information website.

There are other important races on this primary ballot including the Second U.S. Congressional District, 40th State Legislature and 42nd State Senate representation, Whatcom County prosecuting attorney, and the Port of Bellingham.

For nonpartisan voter information, look to the Voter Pamphlet, CDN and other news coverage, and the League of Women Voters of Bellingham/Whatcom County website.

With less than a week to go, it is best to put your completed ballot into a ballot drop box or to take it into the post office and ask them to hand stamp it in front of you. And, don’t forget to sign your ballot envelope!

Eileen McCracken
Bellingham

Read more letters to the editor here.

Submit a letter to the editor (250 words max) or guest commentary (500–800 words) online at cascadiadaily.com/submissions.

Actually, that’s never stopped anyone from complaining, but — considering the low voter turnout rates noted above — how might we change voting to increase participation?

Primary election ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4. We won’t ask who you’re voting for — that’s what the ballot is for. But we are curious which race you’re most interested in (94 votes):

Sample comment: “Every election is important, but the Port has needed new blood for years, so it seems very important!”

Looks like I’m not the only one still turning over Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in his mind. Among the essayists still giving some thought to the retelling of the epic poem was New York Times opinion columnist David French, who, despite the complaints alleging Hollywood “wokeness,” considers the film “one of the most small-c conservative movies I’ve ever seen,” particularly citing a philosophical center that holds there are universal moral laws and consequences for breaking them, especially the most basic in how we treat neighbors and strangers. “Nolan has given us the artistic answer. Defy the gods? Deny the dignity of your neighbor? You certainly can, if you so choose. And you may prosper for a time. But the narrative arc of the movie tells us our destiny if that’s the path we choose. It turns out that there are rules for rule breakers, just as there are for everyone else, and those rules have persisted throughout human history.”

“Blame Canada” was originally intended as a joke from the “South Park” creators. It’s not much of a joke anymore, at least in President Trump’s eyes, notes Chrystia Freeland, the former Canadian deputy prime minister, and former minister for foreign affairs and finance, in a recent New York Times guest essay. Trump, following announced designs on Canada as a 51st state and feuds with Canadian leadership, lately has threatened new and deeper tariffs and bristled over the opening of a new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. (The result is evident as close as Blaine’s border crossing and Point Roberts, with Canadians keeping their distance from their American cousins.) Americans, hoping for a return to normalcy once Trump has left office, shouldn’t assume Canadian forgiveness or even that their own democracy will emerge undamaged: “Inside the United States, the pressing question is whether the country will remain a democracy. That matters to the rest of us, too, of course. But even if democracy eventually prevails inside the United States, America’s old friends will wonder whether Trumpism permanently reshaped Washington’s relationship with the rest of the world.” Americans can reassure Canadians and other long-term allies, but shouldn’t wait to speak up, she writes. “If they don’t, the rest of the world will be right to think that all Americans actually agree with the current bully in chief. The only winners from that outcome will be the world’s despots.”

From the How Could We Not Department: Samuel I. Zeveloff, professor emeritus of zoology at Weber State University, in a Washington Post guest essay, celebrates Seattle’s Summer of Jimothy, the short-spined trash panda, and notes the raccoon’s place in American history: in the journals of Capt. John Smith in 1621, atop the heads of frontiersmen, in Calvin Coolidge’s White House and in current popular culture. Writes Zeveloff: “The American bald eagle is a majestic symbol of the nation, powerful and soaring above the land. The bison, too, has a distinctly American image, evocative of the frontier past. But the raccoon deserves mention in that company as an American mascot, not because it is majestic or noble, but because it is clever and opportunistic.” Show of hands for a Jimothy nickel?