Ahead of this year’s general election, the Federal Way Mirror and Mujer al Volante are combining their respective free annual candidate forums for the first time. Both organizations have been hosting candidate forums for years, but saw an opportunity to expand the reach and accessibility to those who speak a language other than English.
A forum for 30th Legislative District candidates will be held Oct. 8 at the Federal Way Community Center, 876 S. 333rd St. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the event will run 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Mujer al Volante will provide simultaneous multilingual interpretation in Arabic, French, Spanish, Ukrainian and Dari/Pashto. Free childcare will be provided by the community center, and free refreshments and food will be provided by the Poverty Bay Cafe by FUSION.
This year’s forum will host candidates for 30th District state representative: Jamila Taylor (D) and Melissa Hamilton (R) for Position 1 and Kristine Reeves (D) and Quentin Morris (R) for Position 2. Taylor and Reeves are incumbents.
Mujer al Volante was founded by Jaqueline Garcia Castillo, who was the Mirror’s Hometown Hero of the year for 2023.
As the name suggests, Mujer al Volante focuses on assisting women in obtaining their driver’s licenses, but the mission is deeper and broader than that.
“We also advocate for their full integration into the community as engaged citizens. We challenge the misconception that immigrants lack a voice or the right to vote,” Garcia Castillo told the Mirror. “When we say that Mujer al Volante helps women take the steering wheel of their lives, we mean it literally and figuratively.”
Mirror Editor Andy Hobbs said that “the Mirror and Mujer Al Volante share a similar goal in that we want as many Federal Way voters as possible to be better informed about local candidates and their positions. With this partnership, I’m excited to reach readers we may not have otherwise reached.”
Mujer al Volante shared that “our nonpartisan candidate forums are specifically designed for immigrant, refugee, and asylee communities, but this year, we will be bringing different voters together in the same room. This is a valuable opportunity for traditional voters to learn about the needs and perspectives of immigrants, recognizing that immigrants are integral to our community’s life, economy, education, culture, and elections.”
Partnering with the Mirror “fosters diverse perspectives and needs while uniting us around a common goal: better opportunities for all and an equitable system that works for everyone, not just one group,” Garcia Castillo shared.
Their program called “Driving the Democracy” began in 2016 when King County Elections, under Director Julie Wise’s vision, made a partnership with nonprofit organizations to increase civic engagement participation across diverse communities. Mujer al Volante was part of this partnership and soon emerged as a leader in creating nonpartisan candidate forums and nonpartisan ballot parties.
When they started, the program “had very low participation due to a lack of interest stemming from insufficient information and the experiences of immigrant communities related to politics, violence, and other challenges in their home countries,” Garcia Castillo said. Over the years, though, “immigrants have become increasingly familiar with voting by mail and the election process,” she added.
Having cultural relevant voting and civic engagement is especially important because “election systems vary significantly from country to country,” Garcia Castillo explained. For example, “In King County, we vote by mail and host ballot parties, while in Mexico, the culture emphasizes keeping secret who you vote for, and ballot parties are prohibited.”
