Every vote counts, every time
DON’T TELL TOM WEGNER
or Fred Henschel that a single vote doesn’t count.
One single vote was the margin that enabled Wegner to hold on to his seat on the County Board last Tuesday over Henschel, who had given up the seat two years earlier but decided to seek it again this April.
And it was by a margin of just two votes that Jackie Jarvis was able to win a seat on the Plymouth City Council, representing the 3rd Aldermanic District, over James Faller in a battle of write-in candidates.
The closeness of those races makes the voter turnout in last Tuesday’s election all the more disappointing. In the city of Plymouth, the total voter turnout was only 9 percent — which means only one of every 11 eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot.
The other 10 may have had good reasons not to vote, but it’s hard to believe there are that many excuses. The local officials elected Tuesday are the ones who set our property taxes; are in charge of fixing and maintaining our streets, roads, parks, sewers and more; educated our children; and directly impact our daily lives in many, many more ways than do the state and federal officials who are elected in the fall with much larger voter turnouts.
While it’s true that there were few, if any, contested races on Tuesday’s ballot, the voter turnout in Plymouth was not significantly heavier in those areas where there were contested races — the 24th County Board Supervisory District or the Plymouth City Council 3rd Aldermanic District. Those were the races that were decided by one and two votes, respectively.
What might the final outcome have been in those races had the turnout been even moderately light? We’ll never know, but we can be certain that no matter what the winners do in their upcoming terms, they will be hearing from many more of their constituents than bothered to vote for them or their opponents.
Tuesday’s voting also saw the usual number of facetious write-in votes for Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and the like.
Those kinds of sophomoric votes are probably an even greater insult than those who don’t bother to vote at all. We are represented in government at all levels by people who are, bottom line, our friends and neighbors.
If you can’t respect the people who are seeking your vote and offering to serve for you in public office, don’t demean the fundamental right to vote, a vote countless men and women have served and sacrificed over the years to preserve and protect. Simply skip that race, vote for no one. Don’t cheapen democracy and the sacrifices that have preserved over the centuries with feeble, tired, failed attempts at humor.
At issue: Something or other Bottom line: Do something about it
