By Staff
Opinion
Less than 25 percent of the registered voters in Morgan County went to the polls Tuesday.
There are lots of excuses for the low turnout: voting time fell on the day after a holiday; primaries traditionally attract low interest; the presidential nominees are already chosen.
The problem with each of those is that they are excuses. Tuesday's primary allowed voters to select their party's representatives in the general election. In many cases, these races were for local government offices, such as county commission seats. These jobs – the local political positions – have a much greater impact on our day-to-day lives, but don't generate much attention from voters.
Presidential politics are exciting, receiving coverage on the intricate details of the candidate's personal lives and the minutiae each side manages to dig up on the other. Still, it's the local officials that decide if your road will be paved, new parks will be built and if the new shopping center will be constructed.
Doesn't that deserve five minutes of our time to go to the polls?
Our local officials make many of the decisions regarding our daily life, yet we offer little support in return. We only become interested in their activities when they feel they may harm our way of life, not realizing it's our responsibility to stay involved throughout the process.
Abraham Lincoln once said "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
But if you don't vote – if you forego your rights and responsibility – then the government won't be of the people and we will see democracy and our way of life perish.
Mark your calendar now for election day on Nov. 2.