PUBLISHER’S LETTER

Publisher’s letter

Interdependency

In an average election year, just over half of eligible voters go to the polls, and primary races draw far fewer voters. In 2016 many chose not to vote due to the choice of candidates or other reasons. In one fell swoop, there went Roe v. Wade.

In 2020 after many were feeling the effects of Covid and a mounting divisive atmosphere along with three new Supreme Court judges, people went to the polls in record numbers (66% of eligible voters), the highest since 1908. That still leaves out a large swath of voters who sit on the sidelines and don’t exercise the freedom of having their voices heard. Voting is freedom and the ability to shape your society.

Why are people so passionate or don’t care at all? A Pew research paper showed that almost 20% of voters were not interested in the outcome. Of the young people in America that are 18-29, less than half vote. The centrist or “non-partisan” Brookings Institute paper suggests we, like many other countries, including Australia, should make voting compulsory.

I’m sure the sideliners aren’t too happy about gas prices, and many young potential homeowners wonder why interest rates suddenly are making housing less affordable. We must participate in how and who makes decisions affecting our lives. Votes have consequences, as evidenced by the election and appointments of three conservative judges that long-held Roe v. Wade to be unconstitutional when most Americans consider it settled law. Elections had consequences, and this is overflowing evidence.

Far too many people, particularly young Americans, are not participating in elections.

At the state and local levels in Texas, the elections of state legislatures have redrawn redistricting maps, which will affect the outcome of elections for many years to come. Cities and state leaders are now left to sort out these many new laws. Voting has far-reaching results.

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