Get out the vote, in those states which are not battlegrounds, swing, bellwhether, or anything else. It matters.

I live in the state of California. There aren’t rooms full of people at the Democratic headquarters calling Californians. They aren’t giving them the location of their polling place, the toll-free number for assistance, asking them if they need a ride. The presidential race isn’t close here. So in headquarters all around California, rooms of earnest political volunteers are calling places like North Carolina, New Mexico, Indiana. We do need that. Those are races where the voters need to make a difference.

But it always makes a difference. In our indigo, 4th timezone from the sun, never a swing state, there is a ballot. The California Secretary of State’s Voter Information Guide runs to 144 pages. One hundred and forty-four. There are twelve ballot initiatives. There were candidates on my ballot this morning for everything from State Senator to Judge to School Board. Oh, yeah, and President.

Everybody has heard of Prop 8. I went to a website hosted in Pakistan yesterday and saw an advocacy ad about California Prop 8 (really). There has been more money spent on Prop 8 (both sides combined) than any other race or initiative other than the race for the President of the United States this election. So have you heard about Prop 5? It is called NORA. That’s Nonviolent Offenders Rehabilitation Act. It seeks to extend and renew Prop 36, the initiative that remands non-violent drug offenders to treatment and drug court, rather than jail. It’s in trouble. Or how about Prop 6? It makes any 14 year old youth that they can whisper "gang" over an adult in court. Or Prop 9? It gives victims control over a person’s jail sentence, parole terms, where they can live, who they can associate with — permanently. There are also two green energy initiatives with very different outcomes (7 and 10). And a parental notification initiative (4).

And then there’s my favorite global warming initiative: Proposition 1A. It completes the money picture for the high-speed rail from Sacramento, through San Jose, and down the coast through Los Angeles to San Diego. At 220 miles per hour. The carbon footprint of the initiative all by itself, in terms of saved flights for business passengers between the two high-tech hubs of San Jose and San Diego is huge. As a strong signal to start thinking rail, start thinking rail, start thinking rail, it has potential national impact. Currently most of the shipping in this country is by air and by truck. Rail shipping in an immense global warming savings. All in this little bond initiative at the beginning of the second part of the ballot, tucked away and not given much attention.

And then there are the candidates for not-so-high office. I was at a fundraiser a little while ago, and all the politicians that could showed up to shake hands, give me a business card, talk about getting elected. These are offices like city councilor, board of supervisors, school board. Think it doesn’t matter? Did you like the attitude of the government the last 8 years with respect to torture? How about unlawful detention? How about abuse of prisoners? One of the guys I met that night is an earnest young, somewhat rumpled, lawyer, a public defender, running for city council. He knows prison reform and treatment of prisoners, he knows the rule of law, he knows and feels very, very passionately about civil and human rights. He’s, like I said, earnest. Do you still think it doesn’t matter? I invoke the Olshansky principle (from a talk I once heard Barbara Olshansky give in which she advocated asking even the parks commissioner if she believed in the rule of law and opposed torture, because you never knew if they’d be running for high office someday). This guy matters. He’s honest, and he respects the law. And we need him.

So it matters if you vote even in neglected, late time zone states. If nothing else, you are re-affirming your franchise, your right, your part of the consent of the governed. And it’s a crying shame that all three rooms of phone bankers at the headquarters today will be making get out the vote calls, and none to their own state.