Off-Year Elections: How Your Vote Influences Livability

What is an off-year election? In the United States, that’s how we refer to a general election that does not include a presidential election or a midterm election for either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. What’s on the ballot? Generally, in an off-year election, you’ll find candidates for city and county offices as well as ballot measures (e.g., initiatives or referendums).

Do off-year elections matter to the Aging Network? You bet they do! Why? Because we need age-friendly communities, and local office is where the rubber meets the road.

The cities of Renton and Seattle are both members of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. It means they’ve committed to becoming “more livable, and better able to support people of all ages, when local leaders commit to improving the quality of life for the very young, the very old, and everyone in between.”

Regardless of participation in the network, all of our suburban cities invest in programs and services for older people, as does King County. But there’s more to it—they invest in transportation and infrastructure improvements that make it easier for people of all ages to get where they need to go, in parks that make a more pleasant natural environment, in recreation and arts that increase social opportunities, in utilities and public safety that help keep us safe, and more. Your vote matters because, if we pay attention to which local candidates and ballot measures support livability, we increase opportunities for all people to age well.

What’s on the ballot in your particular area? If you live anywhere in Washington state, you can start at VoteWA.gov to receive personalized information—registration status, voters’ guide, ballot drop box and voting center locations, and even ballot status, once your ballot has been returned.

Assuming you are registered to vote, you will receive your ballot in the mail approximately three weeks prior to the Nov. 7 general election. This gives you plenty of time to complete and return your ballot, which you can do via a ballot drop-box or via USPS (return postage is free of charge). Your completed ballot must be dropped off or postmarked prior to the 8 p.m. deadline on election day. Read that as “don’t delay!”

Please vote in the upcoming election and ask everyone in your family to do the same. Talk with your friends and neighbors. Talk with everyone you know. Let them know that, particularly in the long run, livability depends on how people vote. Vote with the notion that every person in every community at every age deserves to age well.

Contributor Joe Hailey chairs the Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging & Disability Services. He welcomes input from readers via e-mail (advisorychair@agewisekingcounty.org).

Mark Your Calendars

Following are upcoming events in which ADS Advisory Council members will participate:

• Seattle District 4 Age-Friendly Candidate Forum: Thursday, September 28, 2:00–3:30 p.m., at the Wallingford Community Senior Center (4649 Sunnyside Ave N #140, Seattle 98103). For more information, e-mail agefriendly@seattle.gov.
• NW Universal Design Council: Tuesday, October 3 (3–4 p.m.); online. To receive the meeting link, e-mail Dinah.Stephens@seattle.gov in advance.
• Indigenous Peoples Day: Monday, October 9. On this national holiday, both Aging and Disability Services offices are closed.
• Seattle District 3 Age-Friendly Candidate Forum: Wednesday, October 18, 1:30–3 p.m. at Pride Place (1521 Broadway, Seattle 98122). For more information, e-mail agefriendly@seattle.gov.
• W4A/State Council on Aging Annual Meeting: Wednesday, October 18. This virtual event is open to Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council members and staff. In Seattle-King County, coordinate your participation with Advisory Council liaison Michael Adusah (Michael.Adusah@seattle.gov).
• Washington State Senior Lobby Conference: Thursday, October 19 (9 a.m.–4 p.m.). Open to policymakers; civic leaders; state, county, and city employees; aging network advocates; and service providers. Register (fee $40 per person) by Oct. 12 if you want to join this virtual event.
• Mayor’s Council on African American Elders: Friday, October 20 (2:00–3:30 p.m.), virtual only. To receive the meeting link, e-mail Karen.Winston@seattle.gov.
• Seattle District 1 Age-Friendly Candidate Forum: Monday, October 23 (3:00–4:30 p.m.) at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon St, Seattle 98116). For more information, e-mail agefriendly@seattle.gov.
• Age Friendly Civic Coffee: Ways to Combat Isolation—Tuesday, October 24 (10:30–11:30 a.m.) at Southeast Seattle Senior Center (4655 S Holly St, Seattle 98118. Learn more about the growing public health concern of social isolation and loneliness. For more information about the Civic Coffee and other events, visit our Virtual Events webpage or Facebook. For more information, e-mail agefriendly@seattle.gov.
• Seattle District 5 Age-Friendly Candidate Forum: Thursday, October 26 (4:30-6 p.m.) at the Lake City Branch Library (12501 28th Ave NE, Seattle 98125). For more information, e-mail agefriendly@seattle.gov.
• 2023 Legacy of Love African American Caregiver Forum: Saturday, November 4 (10 a.m.–2 p.m.) at the Northwest African American Caregiver Forum. For more information and to register, click here.