This spring, after Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske sided with the Office of Police Accountability (the OPA) and disciplined an officer who upset the Asian community by inappropriately stopping a crowd of Asian teens in the International District, the Seattle Police Officer's Guild voted no confidence in the chief. Nearly 90 percent of the guild's 1,200 officers voted against the chief for agreeing with the "politically correct" OPA. Angry with the guild's move, Urban League President James Kelly suggested a counterballot: He thought Seattle residents should vote on the police.

Now activists have taken Kelly's suggestion to heart. On June 6 and 7, the lefty activist group People's Coalition for Justice (PCJ) will canvass the 37th Legislative District--an area that includes Rainier Valley, the Central District, Beacon Hill, and Columbia City, neighborhoods with the highest percentage of African American and poor residents--to conduct "Kelly's" vote on the cops. The ballot will go out to people at grocery stores, libraries, churches, and schools, asking whether they have confidence that the Seattle Police Department treats all citizens equally, regardless of race.

"A vote of no confidence is a vote for justice," explains Dustin Washington, a PCJ leader. "While the guild has no confidence in the chief, the people [in the 37th District] have no confidence in the police in terms of racial justice." He's hoping to get 2,200 ballots from the community--twice the number that the guild returned.

The vote is a jab at the cop guild's vote, but it's directed to the entire department. Washington says it's an effort to increase accountability and raise awareness about community frustration with the police. "Hopefully the city will put forth some meaningful systemic changes [because of the vote]," Washington says.

Seattle City Council Member Richard Conlin, who lives in the 37th District, doesn't think a vote will help fix police-community relations. "I thought the Guild vote introduced more polarization into the debate, rather than problem-solving," he says. "My concern is that this vote will wind up being perceived as a tit-for-tat that will do the same."

Eight local politicians--four city council members, one King County Council member, and three state reps--live in the 37th District. The Stranger asked them what they thought of a vote on the cops, and how they'd mark their ballot. Of the eight city, county, and state representatives who live in the 37th District, only three were available to comment on the vote. All three found the idea unique and interesting, but one didn't think the vote should be directed at the entire department. The other two did not give definitive positions.

amy@thestranger.com