12 DECEMBER 9, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Who’s throwing their vote away?
We had fun searching through
the list of write-in candidates
that frustrated voters
penned onto their ballots in the Nov.
2 general election for New York City
mayor.
The beautiful thing about our democracy
is that the power of the vote
belongs to us, and we can exercise that
power however we wish. If some of us
don’t like the slate of choices before us,
we can always write in one of our own
— even though we know it won’t impact
the outcome of the fi nal results.
The write-in list included legitimate
candidates who came up short and lost
in the primaries; other politicians
known across the country; celebrities
like Kim Kardashian and Lady Gaga;
members of the Yankees and Knicks;
and also a few fi ctional characters
from Daff y Duck to Jean Luc-Picard
of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Some can call the practice of writein
voting “throwing one’s vote away.”
Maybe so.
But as we see it, those who don’t
bother to vote at all are the real disposers
of votes — and far too many of
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Registered voters must remember that they have the power to determine our destiny. Photo via Getty Images
our fellow New Yorkers are throwing
their own power in the trash.
Consider that the Nov. 2 election —
which decided the direction of our city
government for the next four years
— had a dismal turnout of about 22% of
all registered voters in New York City.
It was nowhere close to the high
turnout and enthusiasm seen at the
polls in 2020 for the presidential
election. And again, we’re left to ask
why we New Yorkers only seem to
care about voting once in a four-year
period when so much else is at stake
locally in the other three years?
How many times do people complain
about the direction of city and
state government? The executives and
legislators who run government don’t
pop into City Hall and Albany out of
thin air — they get there because
people vote for them!
And if people are dissatisfi ed with
how their government works, or want
to continue the direction it’s on, then
it’s their responsibility to cast their
vote when the executives and legislators
are up for election.
Registered voters must remember
that they have the power to determine
our destiny. They get the fi nal say on
every politician’s fate.
But if they don’t care enough to vote
at all, then they’re the ones who are
throwing their votes away.
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