Thoughts from completing my ballot for the primary election. Oregon is entirely vote by mail, which means I can utilize the internet, campaign flyers from the mail that are stacked on my dining table, and the voters’ pamphlet to collect the information I need to make my choices.

It also means that I can take a break and not feel rushed as I research dozens of races. Last night, I caught part of the replay of OPB’s Think Out Loud ( @OPBTOL), including an interview with Ana del Rocío ( @a_delrocio) from Oregon Futures Lab ( @OFL_media).

She highlighted the importance of having diverse elected officials so that our leaders look like the populations that they represent. She also made a point that I thought was really important.

In times of crisis like the one we are in now, the good intentions and equity lenses that well-meaning white people develop can be lost as people revert to their own lived experiences to look for solutions.

Without diverse lived experiences in our leaders, we end up with solutions that look like the ones that we have leaned on before that often perpetuate systemic and institutional racism. I took that to heart when I filled out my ballot.

I didn’t automatically vote based on race, but I considered race when I was looking at races with multiple strong candidates. Then I audited my ballot, using Oregon Futures Lab’s website, which IDs candidates of color.

I voted in 27 races total. Nine of them had a person of color candidate and I voted for the POC in six of them, including in four of seven races with both white and POC candidates running against each other. I invite you to do a similar audit of your ballot.