Nervous, anxious, terrified, excited, skeptical, trusting voters anticipate general election results
As pumpkins popped up on the Western Washington University campus, and people dressed up as bears and witches grabbed their morning coffee, Bellingham officially embraced Halloween last Thursday. But some voters in Bellingham were preparing to face their worst fears, from a different source — the results of today’s general election.
With a too-close-to-call presidential race and divisive issues on the Washington state ballot, some voters from Whatcom and Skagit County said on the Western campus and at Makeworth Coffee Roasters that they felt nervous about Election Day.
“I’m trying to prepare myself in the event that the candidate I am not supporting wins,” said Scott Terrell, a journalism instructor at Western. He identifies as a baby boomer. “It’s a nervous experience — it shouldn’t be, but it is. It should be more of a celebration. There’s an underlying sense that if [former President Donald] Trump gets in, things could change dramatically.”
Braden Dennis, owner of Bloom Collective, a digital advertising firm specializing in political advertising based in Bellingham, said he is excited for the election to be over — but he is also looking forward to today, Nov. 5. He identifies as a millennial.
“The presidential race is shaping up to be a coin-flip election — it’ll be interesting no matter what,” Dennis said.
Vice President Kamala Harris was in a virtual tie with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump according to a CBS News YouGov poll on Friday.
Maia Jones, a junior visual journalism major at Western, said she feels both nervous and conflicted days before Election Day. She identifies as a millennial.
“I don’t want Election Day to happen — I don’t know how to deal with it yet,” said Dejah Griffin, marketing and design manager at Lydia Place, a Whatcom County nonprofit organization. She identifies as a millennial. “I’m terrified because I feel the vote could go either way.”
When they vote, they win
Three people interviewed had cast their vote for Democratic presidential candidate Harris, while one voter was abstaining from voting for president in the federal election.
“I haven’t voted for president in a long time,” Dennis said. “I feel like it doesn’t matter that much in Washington because it is always a blue state. That personally absolves me from feeling like my vote matters too much. I leave it blank.”
Jones contemplated abstaining on voting for president in protest of the genocide happening in Gaza.
“Harris is problematic because of her stance in Gaza,” Jones said. “This vote is supporting American tax dollars helping to kill a lot of innocent women and children.”
Both candidates are problematic, but one candidate is more problematic than the other, Jones said. She ultimately decided to vote for Harris because of her personal ethics to cast a vote against Trump.
“Trump works to benefit the ultrarich, and in our current economic situation, we need someone in office to serve the people,” Jones said.
Griffin said she will vote for Harris, but her preferred presidential candidate is Cornel West.
“It’s empowering for me to vote for who I prefer,” Griffin said. “In 2016, I voted for Trump because I felt pressure from my family. But when I vote now, it means a lot more to me because I am making the decision for myself.”
Terrell said he doesn’t think Harris is 100% perfect, but she has a good grasp on the issues and is inclusive.
“She is so much more qualified and better for the country than Trump,” he said. “I’m hoping and praying she gets elected.”
Making a plan to vote
According to the Washington Secretary of State’s office, as of Thursday more than 71,000 ballots had been returned in Whatcom County so far, while nearly 40,000 ballots had been cast in Skagit County.
The 18-to-34 demographic in Whatcom County is responsible for only 16% of the ballots cast to date. The three millennials in Whatcom County interviewed said they are returning their ballots in drop boxes in Bellingham the coming days.
“I haven’t voted yet, but I have my ballot. I just need to fill it out,” Griffin said. “I’ve been pushing it off because I don’t want to think about it. I’m nervous.”
Jones said she is now hesitating to use a drop box because fires were set in two drop boxes, in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver on Oct. 28. “I want to make sure I can secure my vote,” she said.
Jones said she voted in person in Arizona during the 2020 presidential election. She said she felt like her vote mattered more then because Arizona is a swing state. President Joe Biden won in Arizona by a narrow margin in 2020.
More than half of Skagit County’s ballots have come from older voters, as 66% of votes are from people over the age of 65.
Terrell said he and his wife voted the day after they received their ballots in the mail. They dropped off their ballots at the Skagit County Courthouse three weeks before Election Day.
“As soon as the ballots came in the mail, we were like, let’s get it done,” Terrell said.
Why reproductive rights matter
All people interviewed said they are pro-choice. Dennis and Griffin said they both feel Washington state is safe from having its reproductive rights stripped by the U.S. government.
Voters in Washington state legalized the termination of pregnancies in 1970, three years before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal across the United States.
“I’m hopeful Harris will advocate for women’s health issues,” Jones said. “With the loss of Roe v. Wade, that’s really important.”
Health issues affect women living in poverty in Arizona, Jones said. It’s not just about abortion; it’s people who are having miscarriages going to the ER and can’t get adequate care because doctors fear prosecution.
“At the end of the day, the decision about abortion should be between a patient and their doctor,” Terrell said.
Building trust in the election process
Fifty-seven percent of Americans say they are very or somewhat confident that their votes for president in 2024 will be accurately cast and counted, according to a Gallup poll released in September 2024.
But that number does not reflect the growing divide between Republicans and Democrats, along with independents. Only 28% of Republicans said they trust the accuracy of election results nationwide, compared with 84% of Democrats.
Griffin said she is skeptical of the U.S. election process overall. “I am concerned about the Electoral College — it’s not the best way to pick who is president,” she said.
Dennis said he trusts the votes will be counted correctly in Washington state and across the country, and he has faith in the Electoral College.
“If the popular vote was the only way to truly determine who the next president is, then votes in Washington state would matter more,” he said.
Terrell said he trusts the election process, but he doesn’t trust the people throwing doubt into the process. Their agenda is to sow discord and distrust.
“It was overwhelmingly evident that the election process was trustworthy during the 2020 election,” Terrell said. “Trump tried to buy people off, and he came up with all these schemes and court challenges. The process worked.”
Jones said she trusts the election process, but she is apprehensive about a peaceful transfer of power this time around if Trump loses because of what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“That is not good for the country,” she said. “I worry about the fallout if that happens again.”
— By Catherine Skrzypinski
Also read in Salish Current: “Faces and perspectives of Bellingham voters,” Oct. 24, 2024