Picking a party for the presidential primary is making Pierce County voters cranky
Want to take the temperature of Pierce County regarding this year’s presidential primary — on an intimate level?
Try answering the phones at the Pierce County Auditor’s office.
They have been ringing off the hook, according to Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson, and at least early last week, the calls were largely unanimous in sentiment.
This year’s presidential primary is different in some very important ways. Most of all, both parties will use the results to assign delegates.
But voters seem most concerned or confused about being asked to mark a party declaration on the return envelope, Anderson said.
No real surprise there. As Crosscut’s Melissa Santos and others have reported, questions about what checking the party affiliation box does and doesn’t mean are clearly top of mind for plenty of voters, even if both parties have a history of requiring voters participating in the nomination process to at least temporarily pledge affiliation.
There was something else that really seems to be eating at Pierce County’s auditor — so much so that she reached out and requested the interview.
First, there was the unusually high volume of calls.
On Feb. 24, 271 came into Anderson’s office. On Feb. 25, it was 190. On Feb. 26: 171. All well above average.
Even more, it was the emotions on display, Anderson said.
Many of the callers were jarringly angry and afraid and seemingly convinced there was election corruption afoot, she explained.
That felt different, and it doesn’t even take into account the hostility and misinformation she’s encountered online.
Over the last week, Anderson said she’s seen election workers’ eyes “tearing up after 197 phone calls,” adding that it triggers her “momma bear” instinct to “protect her people.”
Worse, Anderson fears the paranoia and vitriol is a sign of the “heightened state of political reactivity” in the country and a “precursor to what we’re going to be feeling and experiencing in November.”
Bluntly, Pierce County’s auditor said she’s seen an alarming “willingness to believe that there are shenanigans going on and that people are lurking around wanting to attack you … that the elections may not be fair.”
“That’s a big concern,” Anderson said.
Specifically, Anderson said that some Republican voters have expressed a fear of being outed as a Trump supporter via the primary process— since he’s the only Republican on the ballot.
Some fear it might lead to being “persecuted, criticized or attacked because of their political affiliation,” Anderson said.
“It’s fair to say that most of the feedback I’ve been getting is from Republicans who feel that they will be subject to social pressure and criticism,” Anderson said. “Some of the feeling seems related to Trump being the only Republican candidate and no qualified write-in choice or uncommitted delegates.”
“That makes people feel very exposed,” Anderson added. “They would like to keep their political lives private, and (the party affiliation box) makes it a little more public … just for this election.”
Pierce County elections manager Mike Rooney has been working elections since the year of Bush vs. Dukakis. Largely, he takes a slightly more long-distance view, believing that people simply forget what presidential primaries entail, since they’re so infrequent.
This isn’t completely new territory, Rooney reminds.
Still, like Anderson, Rooney said he has noticed a distinct difference in the tone and tenor from voters this year.
The tense interactions are hard on his “people,” Rooney said, adding that it “becomes especially hard when someone starts questioning your integrity.”
“We’re very transparent,” Rooney offers seemingly in defense of a Pierce County elections operation that, in reality, needs none.
With more than a week until presidential primary voting ends and the first results are released, Anderson is carrying on with business as usual.
On Friday, she led The News Tribune through a tour of the Pierce County Elections center, where a team of elections workers cycled through received ballots in a room divided in two.
This particular batch of ballots was from voters who marked the Republican party declaration box on the return envelope, and as one of many election-integrity measures, the workers all sat on one side, the tables marked with red tape.
When a batch of ballots from voters who marked the Democratic party declaration cycles through, the workers switch sides, to tables with blue tape, Anderson explained.
All the while, volunteer citizen observers watch with a careful eye.
In an adjoining room, there’s a small but not insignificant stash of ballots known to election workers as “neithers.”
These are the ballots the Pierce County Elections center has received from voters who didn’t pick a party, or who altered the party pledges in some way.
In all likelihood, most of these votes won’t count, although the message they send — like one near the top that read “stop wasting taxpayer money” — certainly seems to be registering in the Auditor’s Office, at least on an emotional level.
By the time the dust settles, Anderson estimates that “neithers” will make up 6 or 7 percent of the ballots received.
Asked about this year’s presidential primary, Anderson largely sought to deliver the same message as elections officials around the state.
First and foremost, it’s safe and secure, Anderson assured. Gesturing around her to all the busy and dedicated elections workers, she promised there’s no reason to fear Pierce County primary election results will be anything but accurate.
More directly, Anderson noted that Pierce County elections workers don’t care what political party you prefer. As usual, their job is to count the votes — which is what they’ll do.
Even more, Anderson pleaded for calm.
Having long considered herself politically “unaffiliated” — meaning she doesn’t claim allegiance to any political party — Anderson said she has significant empathy for voters hesitant to sign a party declaration.
“It feels very binary, and in this heightened political period, the stakes feel higher,” Anderson said.
“I just want voters to have confidence, and if they don’t want to participate in this election, that’s fine. They’re being invited by two private organizations to participate, but if they don’t feel like they can affiliate with … one of those clubs, that doesn’t mean you’re a bad voter,” Anderson said.
“We would just ask that you be kind to the election workers who don’t make election law and are just here to serve,” she added.
Feels like that last part should really go without saying.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 5:15 AM.
