Opinion

Editorial: In our democracy voting is a duty, not opportunity or privilege

Friday, Sept. 22, 2017 -- Voting matters. It makes a difference. It is no cliché, nor mere homily to say that people have fought, given their lives, to keep or gain the right to vote. That sacrifice should not be casually ignored. Voting is the great equalizer. No one's vote counts more, or less, than anyone else's. The only meaningless votes are those that are never cast.

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Voting in the Triangle
CBC Editorial: Friday, Sept. 22, 2017; Editorial # 8214
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company

It makes you wonder why the leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly work so hard at making it more difficult for people to vote.

While many of their legislative efforts have been thwarted by the courts, North Carolina’s voters seem to be helping legislators along even without the bad laws.

We’re staying away from the polls in droves!

Look at the miserable voter participation in last month’s local elections in Mecklenburg County. Turnout in the election, which included a hotly-contested primary for Charlotte mayor, couldn’t even get 8 percent of the voters to the polls, only 43,434 of 544,908 eligible voters participated.

This was an election with some burning issues: Turmoil over the conduct of the local police had erupted into nights of street protests; an effort to extend LGBT rights became one of the biggest issues in the country as the city and the state legislature tangled over notorious HB2.

Still, a miniscule minority of voters showed up.

Prospects don’t look much better for communities in Wake, Durham, Cumberland and other counties around the state where early voting for many Oct. 10 municipal primaries and elections started Thursday.

Two years ago, just 11 percent of Wake County’s 374,082 voters showed up at the polls for municipal elections. In Durham and Cumberland counties, it was just above 7 percent of those registered.

Mail boxes are filling up with pitches from candidates, yard signs are sprouting on lawns and roadsides like mushrooms after the rain. Phone banks are busy connecting and encouraging people to vote.

Let’s be clear. Voting matters. It makes a difference.  It is no cliché, nor mere homily to say that people have fought, given their lives, to keep or gain the right to vote. That sacrifice should not be casually ignored.

Voting is the great equalizer. No one’s vote counts more, or less, than anyone else’s. The only meaningless votes are those that are never cast.

While it may seem incongruous that state and local elected officials embrace and impose laws in sharp contrast to what many polls say citizens want, it’s no accident. And gerrymandering isn’t the only culprit.

Too often, voter complacency and flat-out disinterest results in governments more reflective of narrow, special interests than the true will of the governed.

Voting is easy. There are lots of resources to help and few excuses not to do it.

Go online, the State Board of Elections offers a variety of tools to connect residents with the information they need to make sure they’re registered and know where to vote.
Information and access to local voting information has been compiled by WRAL News and is available here.

Early voting for the current round of local elections in many communities continues through Saturday Oct. 7 with municipal Election Day on Oct. 10.

Vote, it’s the best way – the only way – to get the kind of government you want.

Don’t vote? Don’t complain.

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