See you Tuesday

Ignore the election air-raid warnings at your own peril.

As has been documented in this paper over the past few months with a fine point put on it this past week, a critically important event is now just 48 hours away. It's important at almost every level; so why will so many potential voters stay away from the polls on Tuesday?

At stake is the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, with the latest indications showing the Republican Party in prime position to assume control. Assuming the GOP also keeps hold of the House reins, our country would have two years of a Democratic president and Republican control of both legislative chambers.

At stake is leadership of our great state. The governor, the head of public instruction, the state treasurer, the secretary of state - all of these important posts will be decided on Tuesday. So will many seats in the Idaho Legislature, including those in Districts 2, 3 and 4 representing Kootenai County.

At stake is leadership of our county. Two of the three seats on the Board of County Commissioners are contested; the two victors, with incumbent Dan Green, will determine how Kootenai County meets substantial challenges like indigent care, jailing prisoners and managing the region's airport.

State officials predict a pathetic 40 percent turnout in this non-presidential election. It's incumbent upon newspapers to provide an abundance of information about the candidates and issues, which we've done in the form of editorials, candidate endorsement letters to the editor, coverage of candidate forums, front-page news profiles of all the candidates in local contested races, and video on cdapress.com of 30-minute debates with those candidates. All of this election information and more awaits your attention on the newspaper's website: www.cdapress.com/news/political.

If there's a silver lining in low turnout, it's that many neglectful citizens who are clueless about the issues and the candidates won't be making misinformed decisions. But there's still time, grandparents, parents and other responsible adults, to encourage voting-age people around you to arm themselves with the information at their immediate disposal, then exercise their right - fulfill their responsibility - to vote.

Our way of life depends upon it.

Editor's note: Friday's editorial stated that registered sex offenders are required to keep their porch lights off and not answer the door on Halloween. That law applies to registered sex offenders on probation or parole.