It is a travesty.  An absolute blight on the skin of democracy.  In the last Presidential election 22 million single women did not vote.  That's right.  Count them again, ladies.  That's two 2’s and six 0’s.  And that number doesn't include the married women who didn't vote.  Or men, for that matter.

In my county alone, the number of registered voters who voted in the last sales tax election was a “whopping” fourteen percent.  In the presidential primary this year, out of a registered voter population of 3,484 people only 436 ballots were cast. That's twelve percent of the voters in this county determining your choice for presidential candidates.  Considering the fact that eighty-six (86%) of the eligible voters of my county are registered to vote, a twelve percent turnout turns my stomach.

My mother would be ashamed.  For that matter, I'm ashamed.  Andrew Lack, former president of NBC News, when speaking at a Congressional hearing on the network's election night miscalls, said “Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.”  Even MTV has taken up the call, and now according to their ads 20 million young Americans between the ages of eighteen and thirty have registered to vote as a result of their ad campaign.

When President John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960, the winning voting margin boiled down to one vote per precinct in the nation.

Still think your vote doesn't count?  The margin was even narrower in 2000 when George W. Bush was elected.  In my county in this year's County Commissioner Primary, only five votes separated the winner from the loser.

Don’t let anyone else do your voting for you.  Don’t let anyone else do your thinking for you, either.  Educate yourself on the issues.  Get out and meet your local candidates and ask them hard-hitting questions.  Then ask more questions.

Is there an incumbent running for re-election?  Look at his/her voting record. How long has this person been in office?  Has he/she lived away from the area represented so long the people's core values are no longer truly represented?  How do this person's core values relate to yours? Do you trust this person to represent you in a manner consistent with your core values?  How accessible has this person been to the voters?  What is his/her stand on vital issues?  Does it simply reflect the party line or does it deviate at any point?  What issues are important to you?

Don’t believe all the trash set before you, the propaganda the national media wants you to swallow whole.  Go to www.truthorfiction.com and see what election hoaxes have been floating around the Internet.  Go to www.factscheck.org and see what they say about the controversial ads being aired and the accusations being thrown about by the candidates.  Looking for answers about your candidate's voting record?  Try www.centerformoralclarity.net.  Go to www.rnc.org and check out the issues there.  Then go to www.democrats.org and see what they have to say.  Independent?  Search for your candidate's information, whether on the web or at a local resource center such as the public library or party headquarters.  If you don’t have Internet access at home, go to the library and ask for help.  Call the local party officials and ask for written information.  If you don’t know who those people are, call your county election board and ask.

Have you read the state questions on the ballot?  These issues are too important to determine your vote in a ten-second time frame.  From the marriage-definition question on the ballot of several states this year to education lottery questions or simple changes in your state's constitution, read them ahead of time.  You can find copies of the actual ballots on-line at your state's election board website.

If you haven't registered to vote yet, do so today. If you don’t know where to register, applications in most states can be picked up at the election board, the library, the tag agency or go to the Federal Election Commission website: www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm.

Remember, you can't complain about anyone who gets into office if you didn't express your opinion at the poles in the first place.

Gore Vidal once said, “Half of the American people never read a newspaper.  Half have never voted for President.  One hopes it is the same half.”  I pray he wasn't talking about you.