Tuesday was Flag Day, but it also was a day for voting. There wasn’t a lot on the ballots in Windham or in Raymond, but there were some important issues that did deserve to be considered by all registered voters in the community. In Windham, out of approximately 11,000 eligible voters only a little over 500 turned out to cast their vote (some voted absentee making the totals around 600).
I find this a disgrace and a little disheartening that
our community cares so little that it can’t be bothered to find a time from
early in the morning to late at night to spend a couple of minutes voting.
There weren’t any lines I saw and I was there three hours in the evening.
It’s a yearly call for people to care enough to turn off
the TV and go to the polls to vote yes or no on a multi-million dollar school
budget. It takes no time and it’s your right.
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a Naturalization
Ceremony at our Veteran’s center. The new citizens were so excited and the
first thing they wanted to do was vote. Why is it that we take it for granted
as citizens who have been born with this rite?
In November, I expect to see the lines out the door. The
high school has cancelled school for that day expecting that they will need the
parking for the voters. Is voting in a presidential election like going to
church only on Christmas or Easter?
The other side of the discussion is do we want uninformed
voters making decisions for us? Someone who shows up and writes in a name or
votes for which ever name they like the best, does this help the community,
state or nation? What will it take for people to wake up to the freedom, the
democracy in action? I hope it’s not that it disappears before we realize we
have a say now.
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