How votes should count

Jim Davison’s Nov. 10 letter (“I-594 support limited”) fields the premise that, even though 60 percent of the citizens of Washington voted yes, this was unconvincing because only 30 percent of the land area was in a county voting in favor. That argument only makes sense if we change “one man, one vote” to “one acre, one vote.”

By his (lack of) logic, a voter in Seattle should have less value than one living in Waitsburg. Urban voters and populous states are already underrepresented in the U.S. Senate by design, and in the House of Representatives as well, at least until the next decennial census in 2020.

The Republican search for validation in red maps of empty spaces and the Democrats’ reliance on winning electoral counts in densely populated areas is also emblematic of the growing divide between the more traditional political views of the rural parts of this country and the more progressive approach of the urban centers, and how both parties are rationalizing their loss of support in one or the other.

The simple solution is to stop using the government to legislate values and to work harder to accommodate and respect the views of others.

Mark Aden

Spokane