March 29, 2024

Voting Is a Right and a Responsibility

ballot box

By Jim Morton

I was heading in to vote for the latest primary April 3, when one of the campaign workers out in front of the poll welcoming me to vote stated, “You are one of the few that bothered to turn out today.”

I had my young son with me to teach him about the responsibility we have as Americans to vote. I was saddened, to say the least, that few of us seem to realize the importance of voting in this country. In the April 3 presidential primary, only 9 percent of Maryland voters turned out to vote (according to the United States Elections Project at George Mason University)!

In these tumultuous times, it is vital that we put responsible men and women in charge of running our county, state and country. We are so blessed to live in a country where we are free to vote and change leaders in an allotted time. If we don’t take this responsibility seriously we have no one to blame but ourselves.

I used to tell my sailors, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain! I will take the time to listen to your complaints about your local politics, if you voted.”

And it was a lot harder to vote when you are in the military. You have to fill out a form to get an absentee ballot, wait for it to come in the mail (hopefully you are still home to receive it), find an officer to sign it after you voted and then mail it in by the closing date for your local election.

So, citizens of St. Mary’s County, I implore you to take this responsibility seriously and get out to vote!

Leave A Comment