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Show "Editorial s If you don't know, don't vote S 'This week almost every T Ler in the country will oe?nn n1 in editorial trying Evince it's readers to get ftl W and vote in Tuesday's laryelection. i Ch will tell its readers v -kiiitv to exercise ineir 5 hise. Voting, they will S is more than a privilege. . Sa civic duty. , . have another opinion, i think voting is very im-K im-K Jrtant too important, in Zi to be left in the hands of S Iple are uninformed C rapathetic. So if you think you don't k ; enough about the candidates or the issues, or if ! you think it doesn't matter ' Jhetheryouvoteor not, trust toe feelings, and stay home. Our right to vote is too important to waste. Let those u-ho have taken the time to study the issues make the decisions. Then you 11 have - the "I satisfaction of knowing that j individuals more qualifed than you 'decided who would manage the: affairs of government. And you won't have to get involved. Now, you're probably telling yourself that since it's only a primary election, and ' not as important as the real election in November, you'll probably go ahead and vote anyway. I. But don't kid yourself. This year the primary is very important. Three county races will virtually end with the primary, since no Democrats are running for these posts this year. That includes a two-year two-year county commissioner, the county attorney and the .. I county assessor. . On a broader scale, the primary will be crucial for the two Republicans who want to become the first U.S Representatives from Utah's new third district. If you don't think the primary is important to Ray Beckham and Howard Nielson, then you just haven't been paying attention to the radio, television or the newspaper. Those who do vote will also weed out all but two of the candidates from different precincts of the Alpine School District Board, and the State Board of Education. And some candidates for the state legislature are also running in the primary. So if you are not ready to make a decision on these races, then please stay home. Democrats can play a crucial role in the primary. For the first time in the recorded history of the party, the Democrats got together and agreed on all their candidates, can-didates, so they have no candidates on the primary ballot. That means they can do what they want with the Republicans who are on the ballot: Since party members will probably be pretty well split down the middle on some of the races, a unified Democratic party in Utah County could throw it's support behind the Republican they felt most ' moderate, and he would probably win. Or they could just vote against the Republican they would most like to see lose. Admittedly, some of the issues in this election are so simple that they might en-, courage you to come to the polls, thinking you understand them. For example, in the county commission race, where the candidate lives has become an important issue. Gary Anderson, the candidate can-didate who lives in Springville, says that a longstanding long-standing "gentleman's agreement" would require that a representative from the southern part of the county be elected this year because there is already a representative from the north and central parts of the county on the commission. Michael Sullivan, who lives in Provo and works in Springville, says this agreement hasn't been a factor in electing commissioners com-missioners for years . From the standpoint of the northern part of the county, it doesn't look like it matters that much either way. In the county attorney's race, one of the big issues is whether or not the attorney's post should be full-time, as Jay Fitt would have it, or part-time, as Noall Wootton is operating now. That all seems like an issue for the county commission, who controls the purse strings for county offices, to decide, not the attorneys themselves. Maybe some of these issues appear so frivolous that you think it won't really matter if you vote or not this year. But it will. It is no joke to say that every vote counts. So if you haven't carefully considered your vote, don't cast it. Leave it up to someone who cares. But if, after all this, you are still determined to go the polls on Tuesday, you have about five days to learn enough to make an intelligent decision. Use them well. , |
