12 NOVEMBER 16, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
EDITORIAL
No more Election Day excuses
One of the more common cliches
THE HOT TOPIC
STORY:
Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini
shoot scenes for new movie at
Donovan’s Pub in Woodside
SUMMARY:
A fi lm starring some of the biggest
names in Hollywood including
Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini
shot scenes at Donovan’s Pub in
Woodside on Nov. 7.
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(subject: Queens Snaps).
heard on Election Day is, “If you
don’t vote, you can’t complain.”
Well, because about 77 percent of
Queens registered voters didn’t bother
showing up to vote in the Nov. 7
citywide election, we guess that there
isn’t much for the borough to complain
about the next four years. That’s not
true, of course, but it seems as though
things aren’t bad enough to compel
everyone to make a change.
Why did voters not show up on Election
Day? There are many excuses, but
two stand out as particularly asinine.
One is the rainy weather that hit
during the latter part of the day. Voting
booths are almost always placed
in warm, well-lit, waterproof venues.
Your feet may get wet by walking
through the rain, but are dry feet
worth the price of a wasted vote?
The other poor excuse was a general
malaise among the electorate, that neither
de Blasio nor his many challengers
were appealing. It sounded an awful lot
like the same excuse people had in 2016,
when Hillary Clinton won the popular
vote but Donald Trump won the presidency
with the electoral vote because
he squeaked by in three swing states.
In examining Queens voting
districts this year, we found that Republican
mayoral candidate Nicole
Malliotakis won a great number of
those in northeast and central Queens
that Clinton won last year. The reason?
Low voter turnout. Some districts had
less than half of the total ballots cast
there in 2016.
Luckily for Mayor Bill de Blasio, New
York City doesn’t have an electoral vote,
otherwise he might have had been in
real trouble.
Every Queens resident has a responsibility
to be active in his/her community
— and there is simply no excuse
for not participating in every election.
If it’s rainy, bring an umbrella or call
a friend for a ride (some campaigns will
even drive you to the polls). If you’re going
out of town, fi ll out an absentee ballot
before you leave. State law protects your
right to go out and vote without being
docked. If you don’t like who’s running,
write in the candidate of your choice.
If you’re not a registered voter, become
one: visit vote.nyc.ny.us to fi nd
out how. And save the date — the next
general election is Nov. 6, 2018.
It’s easy to be an armchair pundit
and voice your displeasure about
government on social media or at the
Thanksgiving dinner table. But it’s all
bark and no bite. The only thing that
counts, in the end, is your vote.
And if you don’t vote, you don’t have
a voice.
