Saturday, October 29, 2011

Voting is the Best Way to Register Your Opinion



Voting is the Best Way to Register Your Opinion

There’s a lot of negative campaigning going on out there. And its getting pretty unsavory. The latest volley was a particularly disgusting mailing sent out by ”17 Anonymous Taxpayers” against Mike Sarich that for my money (and a lot of theirs, too since evidently they printed and mailed a 4 pager to 10,000 voters) hit a new low. A thought for those who write such stuff: you’re hurting your cause more than the people you oppose. For more on anonymous comments see Rick Wilson’s blog.

However, this isn’t going to be about the low levels our political campaign in Laurel has reached. It’s to remind voters that they have one sure way of making sure their opinions on the candidates and the process make a difference: and that’s voting Nov. 1 (early voting ends October 29).

Voting turnout in our city is notoriously low. In the last special referendum fewer than 1000 voters decided on voting wards, terms and salary issues for a city of 25,000 with something like 10,000 registered voters. That’s 10% deciding for everyone. This year for the first time in a long time, there are 2 polling sites, so folks have no excuse that there isn’t a voting place close by. So be sure to vote. For information on where and when: http://www.cityoflaurel.org/sites/default/files/u17/Voting%20Guide%20Oct%202011.pdf