According to the reports flying around the TV airwaves we managed to have a very low electoral turnout. It is a shame that people won’t take the time to cast their vote.
Even if you aren’t inspired by the local candidates running in your area there are statewide candidates as well as local and statewide propositions that will likely impact your life in one way or another. By not casting a ballot you are letting other people dictate things to you.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a few brief samples:
Cheryl Cox took the Mayor seat outright, and therefore there will be no race for Chula Vista Mayor in November. Additionally, the Oceanside Charter and Chula Vista’s anti PLA measure passed. I’m personally good with these outcomes, but if you were a Steve Castaneda fan, an anti- Oceanside Charter measure person, or a pro-labor/pro-PLA voter in Chula Vista and failed to vote, you’ve lost your right to complain… Sorry. Try harder to vote next time. It can even be done by mail very effortlessly these days.
In the Sheriff’s race, I’ll confess that I expected Gore to come out on top, but not by that margin. And I was expecting to see a runoff with Duffy in November. My congratulation to Sheriff-Elect Gore. Did the Board membership change at the DSA play a role? That’s a question beyond my meager abilities, perhaps an informed reader will weigh in.
I realize the message of “get out and vote, it’s your duty as an American” is preaching to the choir here on the SD Rostra, but I just had to vent a little bit. Low turnout bugs me…
Also, since the absentee voter results hit at about 8pm, then there’s typically no statistically meaningful poll results until almost 11pm, do we really need to have local TV dedicate three hours of television that can best be charitably entitled “desperately searching for something to say or someone to interview” in order to fill what is essentially dead air time? Give the public a break. Run some programing and a crawler instead. You can always break in if something amazing happens.
Besides, most of the political junkies I know are tracking www.sdvote.com on their own devices, so they know the results of the races they care about well before you can give the information over the air.
Remember: elections have consequences, and have a great day!