Here's why you should vote
In recent weeks, thousands of protesters spilled over the streets of Hong Kong marching and chanting for political change. The protesters desperately seek the right to vote.
In the Middle East, blood is spilled daily in the ongoing battle for power and control. Voting is not available in Syria or ISIS-controlled territory.
In Scotland, 85 percent of eligible voters turned out to say yea or nay to splitting Scotland off from Great Britain. Instead of going to war, millions of Scots filed to the ballot box.
Yet, here in Kootenai County, only 21.7 percent of registered voters bothered to cast ballots in the May primary.
As a result, we face government determined by a small minority of the population. Government by the few, not by the many.
For example, a mere 3,440 votes were cast in the Legislative District 4 races in this year's May primary. No Democrat had filed in that race, so the 1,865 voters supporting Mary Souza sent John Goedde home and Mary Souza to Boise in 2015.
The closed Republican primary and lack of a Democratic candidate undoubtedly contributed to low voter participation in this race. For whatever reasons, a small minority, close to 10 percent of the eligible voters, controlled the outcome of a very significant race.
Does the low turnout mean a majority of our voters don't believe in Democracy? More likely they just may not appreciate the value of their one vote.
Your vote is just as important in 2014, as in a presidential election year, because all of the state's elected officials are up for a vote, as is every legislator, and each of the county elected officials. We will send a representative and a senator back to Washington, D.C., to represent us in Congress.
The Legislature and governor together will make crucial decisions about the future well-being of Idaho's public schools, colleges, and universities. Legislators will decide whether to accept Idaho's share of the millions of federal dollars offered to fund Medicaid Revision. Issues of highway and bridges repair, water quality, wildlife management are all on the Legislature's plate.
If you are a U.S. citizen, have lived in Idaho for 30 days and will be 18 years or older by Election Day, you are eligible to vote in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Absentee voting is taking place now at the County Election Headquarters at 1808 N. Third St. in Coeur d'Alene.
Elections are about the future. So, if you are an eligible Idaho voter, please don't dribble away your chance to participate in choosing a successful path to a healthy future for our county, state and nation.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wisely said: "Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves; and the only way they could do that is by not voting."
Your vote does count. Please register. Please vote.
Barb Arnold is president of the Kootenai County League of Women Voters.