Exercise your right to get out and vote

Local elections will soon be upon us. Once again, issues, as well as candidates, will rise and fall. It is important that everyone who is qualified to vote, gets out and does so.

One of our enduring rights is to vote. We have possessed this right for so long that we tend to lose sight of its meaning. Indeed, we have manufactured a litany of excuses designed to exempt us from voting. These are so common they have assumed stereotypical patterns. It is worthy to note, however, that local elections poll the lowest turnout for the three subdivisions: national, state and local.

Overall, people say they don't vote because they don't feel a part of the “political process.” Voting, however, carries with it the presumption of responsibility. As one of rights, it must be nourished from time to time at the polls. It demands that people study the issues. Today, so many outlets to study the issues accrue to the consumer that one should be able to identify a slate of candidates as readily as one would review the weekly supermarket bargains.