by Diane Lowrey
R-T Editor
I have always been a proponent of casting a ballot when election time rolls around. The minute I turned 18 I was in the county clerk’s office to register and cast my very first vote in April 1974, when I helped choose my hometown’s mayor and council members along with those individuals who would be serving on our local school board. I remember being very excited and I have yet to miss an election since that time – even making a point to request, vote and send back an absentee ballot while I was in college. It wasn’t that hard and I’ve always felt a sense of pride in knowing that for 46 years I’ve had a say in what goes on in my community, my state and my nation.
Voter turnout in elections where we have decided who our next president will be has been strong in Grundy County. In the past five elections, turnout has been 71.3 percent in 2016, 69 percent in 2012, 76.94 percent in 2008, 76 percent in 2004 and 74 percent in 2000. While those are good numbers, it still means 23 to 31 percent of voters in the county are not taking time to go to the polls. Based on registered voter numbers from the county clerk’s office as of Sept. 23, that means as many as 1,740 persons are missing out on the chance to make decisions that affect our every day lives. Those numbers are not so good.
Absentee and mail-in voting for the 2020 General Election got under way this week, giving voters uncomfortable about going to the polls in person in November another way to still cast their ballot. Ronda Lickteig wrote a very informative story in Tuesday’s Republican-Times, explaining how absentee or mail-in voting works. The rules are different, so I would encourage you to read that information if you plan to use one of those options.
If you aren’t registered to vote, you have until Thursday, Oct. 7 to go to the county clerk’s office and take care of that. If you are a registered voter and have moved since the last election, you also have until Oct. 7 to make a change of address with the county clerk’s office.
With all the discussion regarding this year’s presidential race, I anticipate a large turnout for this year’s election. And I would love to see the numbers in Grundy County reflect that same enthusiasm. While there aren’t any local contested races, there are still important decisions to be made on a national and statewide level. The Republican-Times will be printing a sample ballot in the newspaper prior to the election. Statewide and national election ballot information is also available on the Missouri Secretary of State’s website, www.sos.mo.gov
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