If you ever thought your vote didn’t count…

California voters signed a petition several years back which became a ballot proposition which became law: the two top vote getters in the primaries would go on to the general regardless of party affiliation. The idea was that if the politicians had to appeal to everyone from the get-go, we would have fewer extremists running and better representations of the people–and it has pretty much worked out that way. Darrell Issa the alleged car thief in San Diego who made his millions selling anti-car-theft devices notwithstanding.

The guy who wanted to make it illegal to produce any government document or anything in anything but English, to not provide any translation for health emergencies nor in schools for those struggling to integrate nor for voting materials nor warnings at street level or anything, has at long last vanished from our politisphere. Good.

So.

They’re still counting ballots from Super Tuesday. They are going to the doors of voters whose signatures were wonky: those who mailed their ballots in but forgot to sign the outer envelope or signed it in the wrong place (there’s a line for the voter dropping it off themselves and one for the person dropping it off for them if that happens.) Is this indeed your ballot or not. They have till Tuesday.

Because, in the race for that second place for the House of Representatives, Evan Low, 40, was ahead.

Then Joe Simitian, 71, was ahead.

Then Evan Low was ahead.

Then good old Joe again, termed out from just about everything else after all these years.

Joe gradually went from city to county to state assembly, where he sponsored a contest: There Ought To Be a Law. Once a–week, I think it was, (month?) he would announce the winner whose idea he’d picked and he would submit it as a bill to the Assembly. And that is why you now legally have to turn on your lights in California if your windshield wipers are on.

His contest got his name in the paper, it was a teaching moment for school kids re representative government, and it did some good in this state of ours. Now go turn on those lights so others can see you coming.

The distance has been eight votes, four votes, one single solitary vote, eight again nope it’s four now and if I check again in a few minutes it’ll be something different.

Joe’s and Evan’s totals combined come to about 33%, the guy they’re trying to catch up to won the primary with 21.1%. There were a LOT of people gunning for the seat of the retiring woman who’d been our Rep since our youngest was a baby.

So all of us who want Liccardo to win (sorry Joe) need to remember that his opponent will be in that race by possibly one single vote and ours is going to matter that much, too.

Always.

(Insert side chatter of what a relief it is that Evan, Joe, Sam, they’re all decent people trying to do the right thing. It’s the other race that–yeah. Vote!)