Today is primary election day for county, district and state-wide offices in Mississippi. Contrary to what you often hear, 100% of eligible voters will participate in this election as well as the general election in November.

Many voters will perform their civic duty by going to the polls and making their choices. Many others will exercise a different choice – a choice not to vote.

So really, it’s a matter of voter turn-out vs. voter tune-out. Each of us will fall into one camp or the other. We urge everyone to be part of the turn-out. 

To those who are inclined to tune out, we urge you to consider the words of Greek statesman Perecles from more than 2,500 years ago: “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”

The people who are chosen through our election process can and do have a direct bearing on our lives. Understanding that, who would not want to have some say in the matter?

Mid-20th Century education reformer John Dewey described the importance of voting with a simple metaphor.

“The man who wears the shoe knows best that it pinches and where it pinches, even if the expert shoemaker is the best judge of how the trouble is to be remedied,” he wrote.

Extending the metaphor, if and where the shoe pinches are the problems and issues that really affect us as opposed to campaign rhetoric designed primarily to deflect attention or inflame passions.

The purpose of elections is to identify real issues (where the shoe pinches) and choose candidates who acknowledge those issues and are best prepared to address them (the expert shoemakers).

When you choose not to vote, you are saying the issues you care about don’t matter. Your absence from the polls hurts all of us who may struggle with those same issues. There is power in numbers, after all.

“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote,” is the way magazine editor and critic George Jean Nathan put it years ago.

So, if you are among those registered voters who may have chosen to sit this election out, we urge you to reconsider, not just for your benefit, but for the benefit of us all.

Polls remain open until 7 p.m.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

READER FAVORITES

• 

  Our View: When the chase becomes the danger

  By Dispatch Editorial Board • 14 hours ago