SPOKANE -- It's east versus west as local voters are upset a few Western Washington counties keep deciding key issues like Tuesday night's Referendum 71. Some Eastern Washington voters are frustrated, once again, claiming the west side holds all the voting power.
Referendum 71, the measure that would uphold domestic partnerships in Washington State, appears to have passed. But in most counties in the state, R-71 failed. It's happened before and people living in the Inland Northwest don't like it.
When you're talking about politics or to politicians, it doesn't take long for the gap to come up. Who's got the power? The west side or the east? Your vote counts but it may just be canceled out.
Washington is split into two parts: the more conservative east side and the more liberal west side. But the west side has more people. That means the west side has the voting power to swing a lot of issues. Supporters carried King and Snohomish counties. It passed by 20-thousand votes.
In 2007, seven counties passed an amendment to change how school districts could ask for tax money. The rest of the counties rejected it, but the measure passed anyway. Then there is the presidential election. About half the counties voted for Barack Obama, the other half didn't. But Obama carried the state by seven percent. It's all about population.
But that doesn't mean it's impossible to get anything done for the east side of the state. But when it comes to a popular vote, there's just more of them.
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