Inspired by 100-year-old voting
Published 9:05 pm Thursday, July 19, 2018
We hope we’re wrong, but it’s likely that most people won’t go to the polls to take part in Tuesday’s election. Actually, that’s probably sugar coating it a bit too much.
Only 17 percent of registered Troup County voters cast a ballot in May during the primary elections, which included local races. It’s hard to say how many people will take part in Tuesday’s run-off, but traditionally run-offs have a lower turnout than primaries.
People who don’t vote often have a lot of reasons why. Some of the more common reasons are that they didn’t have time or just weren’t that interested in the election.
We understand that life is busy. There’s always another project to do at work and there’s only so much time in a day, but voting is one of our most important rights as American citizens.
That’s why we were so inspired by 100-year-old Anne Mudrack, a Troup County voter who says she takes part in every election. She had her son, Vince, take her to the polls on Wednesday so that she could cast her ballot.
She said she’s taken part in elections all over the country and wasn’t going to miss this one.
We wish others would take on that same attitude.
We understand that the never-ending political campaign ads are annoying to many and that talk of the election has probably run its course.
Even with all that said, the men and woman elected in November will be the people leading our state into the future, and that’s something all of us should care about.
Tuesday’s run-off election includes four of the biggest positions in the state — depending on if you vote Democrat or Republican — and every vote counts. On Tuesday, every vote probably counts a little bit more, with only a small fraction of registered voters expected to vote.
If you don’t believe us, look just over the state line, where a state senate election in Valley, Alabama is currently too close to call. Six votes separate the top two candidates, with provisional ballots still to come.
There’s probably a few people who stayed home this past week, but now wish they’d voted in that election.
There are a lot of people who will stay home Tuesday in Georgia and choose not to vote in this election, meaning a small percentage of voters are likely to decide who moves on in the race for the next governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and state school superintendent. Don’t miss your chance to have your say on this election. Follow Mudrack’s lead and get to the polls.