Citizenship demands voter participation

It was just a year ago that the nation went to the polls and elected Donald Trump president of the United States.

The nuts and bolts elections are where your voice and your vote matter most. Vote today.

Trump has been president for a little less than nine months, even though to some it seems much longer.

The nation again will go to the polls today.

And we are certain of this. A whole lot fewer people will cast ballots than did a year ago.

That’s what happens when there is no big national race up for grabs. It’s unlikely anyone will have to stand in line tomorrow when Pennsylvania holds what is referred to as the “off-year” election. And the lack of turnout won’t be because there’s little on the ballot.

Up for grabs are seats for county row offices, courts on every level from magisterial to state appeals, mayors, town and township councils, and school boards, which feature some of the most heated races in our region.

There is a very important ballot question involving what is perennially one of the most pressing issues in Pennsylvania– property taxes.

A statewide referendum seeks voter approval to give the state legislature the authority to grant property tax exemptions of 100 percent to owner-occupied homes and farms of 10 acres or more.

In Chester County, West Bradford residents are being asked to support a tax on earned income to purchase land for open space preservation.

Voters in the Perkiomen Valley School District in Montgomery County will be asked if they wish to authorize the school board to borrow $2 million to build a turf field at the high school.

And in Perkiomen Township, voters will be asked if they agree to sell 17 acres of land preserved for open space to the “highest bidder” to be developed as an elderly residential project.

Nationally there are two big governor’s races, in Virginia and New Jersey. Across the river, voters will select the replacement to controversial Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Today is a nuts and bolts election. It’s about party mechanics, and making sure all mechanisms are in place to get voters to the polls.

So how many people will actually exercise their constitutional right today? Sadly, very likely a quarter of those eligible.

That probably doesn’t have anything to do with Donald Trump.

It’s been a factor for years, when there is no presidential or other high-profile race on the ballot.

Consider these numbers. A year ago, in the midst of one of the most controversial, bitter elections in decades, only about 58 percent – a little more than half – of those eligible do so even bothered to vote.

Remove the “sizzle” of a presidential race, and the numbers go off a cliff.

The Knight Foundation found that in the 2014 midterm elections, only about 36.3 percent cast ballots. That’s the lowest number since World War II.

We’d be stunned if today’s vote reaches that level.

Many people stay home for these local elections because they think they don’t matter.

Truth is, local elections matter a great deal not only to your lives but to the state of the nation’s democracy.

Our nation’s strength — and the solution for talking and working together to end divisiveness — begins in our towns and schools.

This is where your voice and your vote matter the most.

Feeling apathetic or disgusted with the state of politics?

The answer to that is to get more involved in the system, not less. That starts today. It’s your right to vote. Exercise it.

What you don’t have the right to do is complain if you don’t take part in the process.

Citizenship demands participation. That begins today. Polls open at 7 a.m.