The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Editorials

September 2, 2010

No laughing matter

The Register-Herald



Go to the West Virginia secretary of state’s website — www.sos.wv.gov — and one of the first things you’ll see is a countdown clock for the 2010 general election.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, it read 61 days, 20 hours and 30 minutes. Translated, that means the polls will open at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2 (and, we may add, will close at 7:30 p.m. that same day). Early voting begins on Oct. 13 and continues through Oct. 30.

We offer this as a public service on the heels of last Saturday’s special party primaries to nominate the candidates who will square off this fall for the right to fill the remaining two years of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s term in Washington.

Those contests attracted a voter turnout of 12 percent.

We suppose the only good thing about that is that few people, if any, had to wait in line to vote. One precinct in the Eastern Panhandle reportedly had only six voters cast ballots in the 13 hours the polling place was open.

But this is no laughing matter. The people wanted an election rather than an appointment to choose Sen. Byrd’s successor. The Legislature was called into special session to clear up ambiguities in election laws and pave the way for the special election. The secretary of state’s office and county clerks throughout West Virginia had to prepare for an unexpected election process on short notice. Fourteen candidates paid filing fees of $1,740 apiece to get their names on the ballots.

It started out as a process — a basic constitutional right — that would have made Sen. Byrd proud. But it went downhill. Not only was voter turnout a paltry 12 percent last Saturday, but more than 170 Republicans and Independents who requested Republican ballots voted for Albert Howard, who listed his address as San Pedro, Calif.

So much for an informed electorate, especially in an age where information is readily available from a number of sources.

Those who did not vote will likely argue that the results of the special primaries were foregone conclusions, that Democrat Gov. Joe Manchin and Republican John Raese were going to be the winners, which they were.

That argument is not valid. If it were, then why do college football fans pack stadiums, at considerable expense, to watch mismatches where the home team can name the score beforehand against a clearly inferior opponent?

As we’ve repeatedly said in the past, voting is one of America’s precious rights. It’s one of few ways the people have to ensure government accountability. Thousands of Americans have died on the battlefields to preserve that right.

Apathy has no place in a democracy. Let’s hope everyone remembers that as another election approaches.

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