My pet peeve about today...

I finally discovered my pet peeve about today. Something had been niggling at me the past few weeks, far beyond the idea that neither of the main candidates fills me with ease (and Oklahoma *is* a two-party state, so spare me the independent candidates). 

It's the local elections that have been bothering me. I am the person who votes for every single bond issue, state proposition, you name it. I spend as much time reading the history of those as I do the candidates for president, and I realized today how much it bothers me that other voters don't do the same. 

The fact of the matter is that at the end of the average vote, the tally doesn't go much above 200 in our precinct. Eh, it's a smallish city and a smallisher precinct. Lots of rentals and perhaps college kids are registered to vote elsewhere. There might be an editorial or two in the months preceding, but to be honest most people are surprised when they see the "Vote Now" signs up, and either skip the vote or head in and vote without hardly reading the wording of the bond. 

I know that the presidential office is important, leader of the country, yes yes. However, I also know that he has checks and balances, with people constantly watching and criticizing. What happens locally, affects us just as radically, and often more quickly. Not just taxes, but where money is moved and on what it is spent, how roads are built and where water lines run. And these are the items that are not watched! Our city council has meetings with less than ten people in the visitors gallery, with a population of more than 100,000 people, 80% of whom are voting age. Get a well-publicized controversial topic, and the visitors will increase, for a while. 

So yes, get out the vote. I agree, president is important. But so are the day-to-day issues that people forget about. In a few months, you'll probably have another one in your town. Get that vote out as well.