What if the rule “use it or lose it” extended to voting? If it were in effect, would you still have your opportunity to vote in this upcoming election or would you have lost it from disuse? When would you notice if you didn’t and how would you react?
If you aren’t registered to vote for this upcoming November election, you have until the circuit clerk’s office closes on Saturday at noon to meet the deadline. Voting is a fundamental part of being an American. If you choose not to vote you are in large part shirking your obligation as a citizen of the greatest and most successful social experiment in human history.
Candidates for office are regularly grilled about all aspects of their voting record including if they did or did not get out to vote. What would your record be if someone were to examine it? Would you be proud that you had exercised your vote every time, or would you be trying to explain why you couldn’t be bothered?
If you were paying attention you might have picked up on the fact that I didn’t use the word “right” to vote. Voting is a privilege rather than a right. Privileges are revocable; rights aren’t. In most states conviction of a felony will revoke your voice in the election process. Mississippi is one of those states.
What are the voting criteria? You must be 18 years old by the day of the next election; you must be a U. S. citizen and a resident of Mississippi and register to vote in your county at least 30 days before election day and, you must not have been declared incompetent by a court. Most recently there is a requirement for a voter ID presented at the time of voting. These are not exactly high hurdles to the opportunity and, yes, the responsibility to vote.
There are some countries that have compulsory voting and there are some where you don’t get to vote at all. Clearly we are not either, but contemplating the compulsory option begs the question of what the effect of that would be. If you forced someone to vote then the product of that compulsion might be questionable. The voter might be driven to just get it done instead of giving thoughtful deliberation to the choices.
Of course non-compulsory voting doesn’t necessarily get you any more of a thoughtful approach to the decision, but it certainly means that absent incentive funding only those who are determined and dedicated will make the effort to cast their ballots. Maybe that is for the best. If it isn’t worth your effort to vote, then perhaps you don’t deserve a voice in how you are governed.
Democracy isn’t right for every country. As a form of government, democracy requires an engaged and reasonably educated electorate. For democracy to succeed it must have citizens who are willing and able to understand issues. America is dedicated to having an educated constituency but we seem to have failed in developing the sense of duty so necessary to the process.
In the last presidential election, of the almost 241 million Americans eligible to vote, only 194 million actually registered. That means there are about 47 million of us who don’t give a tinker’s damn about self-determination.
Of those registered to vote, 129 million actually made the effort and cast a ballot in the last election. That leaves around 65 million who apparently didn’t care enough about voting for president to get out their front door and make their choice known.
A little over 54 percent of us are making decisions for all the rest. Though these are figures from the last presidential election they have been holding roughly the same for decades. Ironically, the largest voter turnout is for a presidential election and that is where we actually have the most negligible impact on the outcome.
Where we as voters play the largest role is in our local elections and there we can’t even break over the 40 percent mark for voter participation. Shame on us.
For the past three Starkville municipal election cycles, there was at least one ward where as few as five votes determined the outcome. In the last Oktibbeha County supervisor race we had an election that resulted in the win of one of the candidates by four votes.
There is no more dynamic venue for your vote to count than in our hometown. Local elections matter. It is time to lay claim to your opportunity to make a difference. Get out and register to vote. Don’t leave it to me to decide your destiny because I guarantee I am going to be there casting my ballot and you may not like the outcome.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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