Dishonor to Right to Vote

How important is your vote?

It goes without saying that the right to choose those who govern is the cornerstone of our free society. H.G. Wells once wrote that elections are democracy’s “feast, its great function.” So how many chose to dine during the local elections last week? A less than robust 28% in San Diego, and 27% in all the jurisdictions in the county that held votes.

As noted above, we find the results of the city elections--even those we disagreed with--to reflect an impressive level of thoughtfulness on the part of those who did go to the polls. We can’t help but wonder, however, about those who didn’t bother. Do their abstentions represent disgust with government or simply nonchalance about it? Were they insufficiently titillated by the races and issues being decided? Did they conclude that their vote wouldn’t make any difference? Was the snow too deep on the road leading to the polling places?

In Vista, an emotional campaign over redevelopment that will have much to do with the way that city looks for years to come lost by three votes out of 7,447 cast. The turnout there was a mere 35%. Surely the other 65% have some opinion about Vista’s future.

It seems to us that when a person sloughs off a chance to vote, that person does a dishonor to the efforts and sacrifices thousands of people have made to win and protect our voting rights--not just those who have fought in the nation’s wars, but those working even today in some parts of the country to assure that all people have the right to participate in the democracy.