Expect this every year now. The anniversary of 9/11, with its paeans to American freedom and democracy (which after all is why they hated us so--jealous bastards!), will, in our state, come either a couple of days before or after a primary election the majority of eligible voters will ignore. We have lower voter turnout and less real choice than just about any other electoral country around, and every year now we'll prove it again at exactly the moment we're patting ourselves on the back for being the most democratic.

Maybe that's why they hate us. Not because we're free, but because we're such arrogant hypocrites.

Regardless, the primary in Washington this year is Sept. 17, and a number of offices and measures are on the ballot, most of which have gotten little or no public attention. Those of us who actually care--but who might not have time for research or attending candidate forums--are left with precious few ways, other than the self-serving pablum of the Voters' Pamphlet, to distinguish these people.

Enter ETS! The second week in September is also our anniversary issue--no room this issue, but maybe next issue we'll roll out some of that cool anniversary retrospective material that we printed, but almost nobody saw, right before 9/11 hit last year. Anyway, this is our seventh year of election information, and it's one of our most popular features. Where else are ya gonna find out which judge isn't just the "fair, impartial, experienced" jurist advertised in the Voters' Pamphlet, but a raving lunatic who messes up peoples' lives for years on end? (See: Jeanette Burrage.) You're welcome. And since so few people vote, it never seems to stop them from wielding power; yet, perhaps it can still inspire us to have more influence locally. At any higher level, it's a hopelessly corrupt system. But locally, it can and does matter. Here's the skinny:

King County Prosecuting Attorney: Multi-term incumbent Norm Maleng is a politically ambitious asshole on the model of Giuliani pre-9/11. He's currently seeking the death penalty on two separate cases. Not that it matters; he's unopposed. And nobody, no matter how bad or good, should get a vote when unopposed. Write in someone, anyone. We suggest James Ujaama.

King County Council, Dist. 8: Dow Constantine is the anointed West Seattle Democrat, and he'll have an easy win against a pair of Republican and Libertarian nonentities. Skip it.

State Senate, Dist. 37: Incumbent Adam Kline faces off, again, against Dawn Mason. Kline can be unlikable, and Mason is a well-respected community activist who lost to Kline four years ago in a bitter race, and then lost again in a city council bid last year. This time she's barely bothered raising money or running. Meanwhile, Kline last year single-handedly killed Gov. Locke's horrifying "anti-terror" legislation, including vastly expanded surveillance powers. Locke wants to try again, and we'll need Kline, and his ability via committee chairmanship to bottle the bill up, again. Adam Kline.

State House of Representatives, Dist. 11: The most familiar of the three serious candidates running is Roger Valdez, a long-time Democratic community operative on Beacon Hill. Valdez and opponent Zack Hudgins--who's very upfront about being unemployed and needing the job--have been engaged in a bizarre I'm-more-of-a-Spanish-speaker-than-you feud that has detracted from both candidates' good ideas. The third viable choice is Natalie Reber, and she's the best of the lot--a lobbyist for the rights of women, children, and the poor who knows the ways of Oly better than the other two combined and combines it with the right sorts of political priorities. Natalie Reber.

State House of Representatives, Dist. 32: Maralyn Chase is running for her first full term, having been appointed a few months ago. She's the president of the board of the Washington Peace & Justice Alliance (formerly Peace Action), and despite that group's recent troubles, it's a good measure of Chase's politics and community activism. She has a Republican opponent she'll face (for what it's worth, which is nothing) in the general, but her primary Dem opposition, Kevin Grossman, is much, much less interested in hearing from ordinary people; he'd be a shut-up-and-take-it kind of legislator. Yeech. Maralyn Chase.

State House of Representatives, Dist. 37: A three-way race featuring Cheryl Chow, Eric Pettigrew, and Angela Toussaint. Chow is the business toady who quit City Council, lost a return bid, and knows now that to get elected she has to fake being a progressive populist. Pettigrew is a Norm Rice protege who's bought himself both business and labor support, but Toussaint is the prize here--a dedicated community activist who will bring an energy and willingness to take risks all too lacking in Seattle's mostly lethargic Olympia delegation. These are the safest and most liberal seats in the state; if anyone in the legislature is going to advocate that the state's shrinking dollars be spent on people, not Boeing, it will have to be folks from districts like the 37th. Pettigrew would pay Boeing. Chow would serve one term and then go to work for them. Vote Angela Toussaint.

State Supreme Court, Pos. 3: The state's highest court is a critical election, but few people know one candidate from another. In this race, Michael Spearman is the standout; a King Co. Superior Court judge and former public defender, his rulings haven't always been the predictable public defender bias--which is good, actually, in that it shows an ability to consider cases independently on merits that's essential for the Supreme Court. More importantly, his reputation among local progressive lawyers and PDs is very good. Beware of one of Spearman's opponents, Jim Johnson--not to be confused with Judge Charles Johnson, endorsed below--who is, among other things, Tim Eyman's favorite lawyer. Johnson, from his rhetoric, might be a libertarian bent on protecting civil liberties like Richard Sanders--were it not for his over-the-top anti-Indian work for his boss, then-Attorney General Slade Gorton, in arguing all the way to the US Supreme Court against native fishing rights in the '70s. He's still proud of that work. Michael Spearman.

State Supreme Court, Post. 4: Incumbent Charles Johnson is head and shoulders above his opponents: Pam Loginsky, a Kitsap prosecutor whose enthusiasm for the death penalty, in my interview with her, verged on the unhinged; and Doug Schafer, a progressive gadfly not qualified for the post. Johnson.

Court of Appeals, Division 1, District 1: Joseph Coleman is an outstanding jurist--and his opponent, Jeanette Burrage, is one of the few judges so incompetent as to lose reelection. Burrage's pro-property rights fanaticism in Muni Court was obscured by the flap over her insistence that women lawyers in her court wear skirts. She was widely regarded as completely incompetent and over her head; even after four years on the bench, the King Co. Bar Association rated her "unqualified." Now she's seeking a promotion--namely because she's been unemployed for two years. Joseph Coleman. Please.

King County Superior Court, Pos. 5: Steve Gonzalez has a good reputation, including a personal vouchsafe from an activist friend I respect a lot, Sarah Luthens. His opponent is a right-wing property rights guy. Gonzalez.

King County District Court, Pos. 3: Of the three candidates, Art Chapman, seeking a promotion from Muni Court, has championed Drug Court and the county's Mental Health Court; he also came off well when I met him at Seattle Weekly's editorial board interview, emphasizing prevention in addressing crime issues and the role a thoughtful court can play. Susan Noonan, a former prosecutor, has the endorsement of the retiring incumbent, but the last thing we need is another prosecutor on the bench. Art Chapman.

City of Seattle Proposition No. 1: This is the housing levy, which would renew an existing tax to provide 2,000 units of desperately needed housing in coming years. It's not perfect--there's a real danger the city will pull its frequent stunt of allocating too many units to less needy, "moderate" income tenants, and property taxes are by nature regressive--but the urgent need overwhelms any quibbles. Polling is close; advocates fear this could fail. Vote yes, and tell your friends, too.