Tuesday, Feb. 12, is primary election day in Harford County and the rest of Maryland.
Will you vote?
If you answered "yes," congratulations! If you answered "no," then why not?
It's hard to believe people don't vote, but obviously they don't. A respectable turnout in a primary election in Harford County runs between 60 and 65 percent, and that's fairly high compared with most other places. When we use those percentages, we discount the independent and third party registered voters who can't participate Tuesday.
Still, 60 to 65 percent turnout means at least one of every three people who could vote in the primary won't. One of every three registered Democrats and/or Republicans doesn't care about their party's presidential nominee, their next congressional representative or who will be a judge in this county for the next 15 years.
What possible excuse can anyone use for not voting when provided with this important opportunity to have your voice heard? There's always these disgruntled to types who say it doesn't matter who is president or who is governor or who is county executive because "they're all no good" or "________ ."
Well, people have a right not to vote, just as they have a right to criticize the government and to complain the country's no good. But, if you complain how things aren't any good, don't you have an obligation to be part of the solution? Unfortunately, there are some people who don't want that responsibility, either. After all, then they might not have anything to complain about.
It's pretty easy to vote. True, you can't vote online yet, but it's certainly coming, and probably sooner than we think.
The founding fathers believed it was dangerous to give the masses control over government, so they devised elaborate systems for the selection of a president and U.S. Senators. In the early years of the republic, the Electoral College — something people to this day still don't understand — did pick the president, with electors often being chosen by state legislators. Senators were likewise picked by legislatures until the 17th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1913, less than 100 years ago.
But, hey, you can still let others do your picking for you, and you don't have to move to Saudi Arabia or some other phony republic.
Don't vote.
|
