I'm not sure if this column is going to be long or short. I'll just start typing and see.
Last week, voters living in the Missouri Valley Community School District voted “yes” on two public measures related to school funding and how that funding can be used. You can read all about that in this paper, and I know the school itself has put plenty of information on social media and its website.
I'm not even going to comment on the measures. Actually, I think the measures speak for themselves. What I will comment on is a total lack of voter participation.
According to unofficial results, 218 ballots were cast out of 3,079 registered voters. That means that a tiny smidge more than 7% of the district's voters decided to, you know, actually do it.
When I saw that number, I was shocked. Maybe I shouldn't have been. But with how often people talk about school funding, property taxes and generally everything under the sun, this newspaperman was quite interested to see how many people would take a few minutes out of their day to go make their voices heard.
Maybe people just assumed it would pass and that they wouldn't need to go and vote, or vice versa. I'm actually going to be less charitable than that, though, so please forgive me.
I bet plenty of voters who chose to sit this one out could tell you exactly what President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are up to. I bet they could tell you what Democratic leadership thinks about this or that. I bet they could give you a stump speech right now on how we're about to enter into America's golden age or how we're on the brink of turning into Nazi Germany.
Pick your flavor. Point being: this election wasn't covered by CNN or Fox News, and it was simply for measures and not a political office. There weren't particular figureheads to rail for or against. There were just numbers on a page and your opinion, completely your own, not spoon-fed to you by your favorite talking head.
That's a real tough sell for today's voters, I've noticed.
I guess all I'm trying to say is to get with the program, people. Seriously, you absolutely need to turn out and vote for things like this. Only 218 people doing so is an embarrassment.
Please start caring about your local community more. Vote for or against these measures. Just do something! Anything!
Those people on television don't know you or care about you. The people in your community do.
Absolutely involve yourself in national politics when you deem it necessary, and even more importantly, state politics. That doesn't mean you forget about the “small stuff.” There's a hierarchy to these things, just like everything in life.
If you have a family, I'm sure you take care of the people in your family before you take care of others. Voter participation is not all that different. You've got to worry about your home first, and then you can get around to the outside stuff.
If you don't, you and a bunch of other folks will be left scratching their heads wondering what the heck happened. According to these results, only 218 people would be able to tell you.
