Letter to the Editor

If you think your vote will count, use it

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

To the editor:

I wish I had saved all of the junk mail I get every day from politicians wanting my vote so I could take a picture to show the stack of waste. I will never donate my hard-earned cash to any politician or party knowing this is how it is spent. This also got me thinking about how to get myself removed from the mailing lists. My research showed that there is no "political do not contact by mail" (similar to the "do not call registry) website that I can sign up to. There are however several "Do not mail list" sites for consumer type products.

Here are a few suggestions that I have found to help get me off of these political lists.

1. Some nonprofit organizations may sell their mailing lists so always read the fine print and choose to not have your address shared with other organizations.

2. When you fill out your voter registration form, check to see if there is an option to be included or to opt out of political mailings.

3. Contact the organizations directly, sometimes a phone number or address can be found on the mailer.

4. Give anonymously if you give to a political organization.

From what I understand, electoral voters in Arkansas are not required by state law to cast their vote in line with the popular vote, it is probably in their best interest to do so but they are not bound by law. So for example your vote in the presidential election only influences the elector, it does not really count because the elector can override your decision.

Local elections I believe are more important than state or federal, mostly because of low voter turnout. Look at the recent Blytheville School Board election -- one person won by 1 vote. The sad part is he only received 30 votes, and there were only two people running for this position (in a town that has a population of over 15,000). With the recent controversy surrounding the school (school choice and academic distress) I would have thought this would have been a high voter turnout.

I don't really care anymore who holds office in a state or federal position, so I won't vote for these office positions anymore. Even laws that have been voted on by the public, such as to protect the definition of marriage to be between a man and a woman have been overruled; it does not matter what the popular vote was. The people spoke but the government basically told them to shut up and they will tell them what is good for them. So if you hear me complaining about something that was decided on at state or federal levels remind me my voice does not matter.

Local elections I will vote on, but only for things that interest me such as taxes. I voted in favor a few years ago to raise my millage tax for the purpose of some funding for Armorel School -- they had a plan on how to spend the money and presented it to the voters. This tax passed. I live in the county, so I voted against the 1-cent sales tax to cover up the mess of Blytheville not paying the IRS. I will vote against the half-cent tax for the hospital because to me it just seems like a Hail Mary pass -- no thought or effort was put into presenting a plan to the voters, but to just add the money to a general fund, does not make much sense. I have heard of no plans in the past few years to fix the buildings but now it seems to be a driving factor in asking for this tax. If this is the case, how hard would it have been to get some budgetary quotes for these projects so this information could have been presented when asking for the $12-15 million? That probably would have changed my mind. What has happened to the millions we taxpayers have given to the hospital the last few years?

This is only my opinion. Please, if you feel your vote counts, by all means exercise your right and go vote. Men and women have died in wars so we can have the right to live in this free democratic country.

David Ostrom