In my state, yesterday was election day for, I guess you'd say, municipal races. Cities, towns, townships, villages, school boards, library governing bodies......all had their elected officials determined by the electorate's choices at the ballot box. Sadly, voter turn-out numbers were, predictably, small-to-embarrassingly tiny in scope. This is a phenomenon that disappoints and discourages me. These are races that are no less important than national elections, yet we, the voting public, treat these as ho-hum to non-event happenings.
Why?
Take for instance, school board elections. School board positions are vitally important in communities, yet these thankless positions are given less attention by the public than who was voted off "Dancing With The Stars." School boards determine the course, cost, and scope of our country's children's educations and we can barely summon the energy to drive or walk to our polling place. One local, voting precinct posted its results this morning and the totals for the school-board's three winners were depressingly low. The three winners had totals of 58, 48 and 45, or something close to that. It is shameful that so few people helped determine who will sit in judgment on the direction that our local high school will take over the course of the next three years.
Whatever happened to civic duty? We don't take the time to vote, yet we complain vociferously, citing our First Amendment rights to speak our minds but, yet, we can't get our fannies to the polls? I would propose that the only people who should have their First Amendment rights protected, under the constitution, are those who vote......in every election. As long as "we" keep voting, then we maintain our right to speak freely. Not voting? No problem, just do not plan on being protected under the First Amendment between elections.
I think this could work. Any takers on the idea?
Ancora imparo
