Why should we bother to vote?” some citizens say every time an election year comes around. “The same people seem to win every time, and nothing changes anyway.”
That sentiment may feel true for many people, but a new study by the nonpartisan organization Voting Matters Inc. revealed one key finding that definitively answers that question: How one person decided to vote – or not to vote – made the difference in who won or lost an election in a total of 39 North Carolina cities in 2019.
Think about that – one push of a button on the ballot, or lack thereof, was the difference in 39 elections among the 100 counties statewide. The closest one to Cherokee County was a tie race for a seat on the Sylva City Council; about a dozen 2019 races ended dead even and were settled by a coin toss or other method that followed an old state law requiring ties in city elections to be resolved “by lot,” which is a phrase not regularly used since the 19th century.
Since the more local a political office is, the more it impacts your life on a regular basis, these communities will reap the benefits of their decisions – or face the consequences – for years to come.
“One vote will again be decisive somewhere this year and then somebody will be mad they didn’t bother to vote,” Bob Hall, director of Voting Matters, said in a release. “Of course, many of the close contests are in small towns, but they involve mayors and council members who decide major issues like police oversight, affordable housing and zoning for a new grocery store or landfill.
“Local elections are important, and every vote really matters.”
On the other side, the sad truth is too many people pull the trigger at the polls for the wrong reasons. Here are some actual things I’ve heard from voters:
- They prefer an initial next to the candidate’s name.
- They “heard” the candidate had some good ideas.
- They went to school with the candidate years ago.
- Family or friends like – or dislike – the candidate.
- My spouse voted for them, and I keep the peace.
- Since it doesn’t really matter, I just caught a “vibe.”
That final point in particular is an unparalleled exercise in electoral nonsense. Based on some results in the last several election cycles, we must be putting seriously bad vibes out there.
There are municipal elections in Andrews and Murphy on Tuesday, Nov. 2. While there are not any competitive races in Murphy, there are contested campaigns for mayor of Andrews and two seats on the board of aldermen.
To help you make those decisions, I have been asked to be the moderator of a nonpartisan political forum starting at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Andrews Community Center. All candidates for mayor and aldermen have been invited, even given an option to join the session through Zoom. And if you can’t attend in person, WKRK will be airing the forum online via Facebook Live.
None of the candidates will receive the questions beforehand, and all of them will get the same amount of time to respond to each one. This is a great way to get the know how the people who are running for important local offices think. If you have a question to ask all of the candidates, please send it to me right away.
“Your one vote can have a big impact in a local election and, conversely, the local officials who win can have a big impact on your life,” Hall said in the release. “Their decisions can dramatically affect your neighborhood’s development, drinking water quality, and public health and safety services.”
If you’re a voter in Andrews, we hope to see you Saturday – and then again on Nov. 2.