The 2012 King County Primary Election ballots have been sent out, and the deadline for submitting your vote is Tuesday, Aug. 7.

While voters can spend the stamp money and simply put their ballot in the mail by Tuesday, there is a local option to drop it off at a ballot van in West Seattle, located at the West Seattle Stadium (4432 35th Ave S.W.).

The van will be there on Aug. 3, 4, 6, 7 (Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday). Their hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Monday, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

Along with a number of primary elections, citizens can also vote on the Seattle Public Libraries Levy and Children and Family Services Levy.

For additional information, visit http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections.aspx.

Write-in candidate for 34th District, Position 2, House of Representatives joins the field
Vashon resident Mark Cavener (Democrat) is getting the word out about his run for the 34th District Position 2 seat against Joe Fitzgibbon, who appears unopposed on the ballot.

Cavener, a music producer/engineer and active non-profit figure with the Washington Domestic Violence Commission (he is executive director) and the charitable record label Oasis Entertainment, decided to officially enter the race on July 19 – only a handful of days before the election.

Asked about his platform, Cavener said:

“Absolutely the biggest problem I see right now is lack of transparency and lack of adherence to the open meetings act and the public records act which both, with the legislative intent, were to include all agencies of our government to ensure that no agencies … are getting away with murder, so to speak … or sometimes literally.

“Some of the biggest problems I see are coming from: ‘Hey, we are in a recession, nobody has any money, we are at least trying to tighten up, but that doesn’t mean the citizenry becomes a blank check or an ATM that we can keep dipping into just because it is the party line to fund all these programs.”

Cavener said he is a Democrat, but does not want to toe the party line without question.

“My campaign is not just about using my skills in collaboration, but also pointing out areas that are just deficient,” he said. “We have inefficiencies everywhere. Instead of going after the citizenry for every penny we can squeeze out of them let's streamline things … and not make quick decisions that might look good on paper this year but, long term, might mean big budget headaches in the future.”

“Most everything that I feel has been effective has always happened at really local government (levels),” Cavener said. “I’d like to bring that kind of collaboration – that kind of ‘Hey, you are my neighbor and that’s why I care about this issue because we are dealing with this at a local level’” sentiment to Olympia.

Cavener is running against State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34th District, Position 2), who was elected to the position in 2010. For more information on his history and campaign, please visit http://joefitzgibbon.com/.