State primary vote is optional

Everyone who graduates from high school takes a class called American Government or Civics. There we learn not only how our government works but also that we all need to be informed citizen and vote because that is how a Democracy works. It isn’t just about the right to vote, it’s about the obligation to be informed and always vote. This is called our civic duty.

This state makes it easy to fulfill our civic duty. First they send us a Voters Pamphlet to study and then every registered voter gets a ballot in the mail. It is our civic duty to try to understand the issues and candidates as best we can, mark the ballot and return it.

Soon the Republican Primary ballots will arrive in the mail. Civic duty does not apply to this ballot, so Democrats and Independents could just trash the ballot and not feel that they are neglecting their civil duty. This Republican Primary is unusual because the political parties, each to a degree, are using, misusing or abusing our standard voting system and in doing so they are using, misusing, or abusing our feelings of civic duty. This creates cynicism.

I think newspaper editorials throughout the state should help people understand that this time there is no real obligation to vote and return the ballot. It is completely optional.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 3:08 PM with the headline "State primary vote is optional."