Reader endorses Project Get Out the Vote

Every election the American Legion runs a get out the vote campaign, encouraging everyone who is eligible to take part in electing the leadership of our country. Still every election only about half of the eligible voters actually vote. Some people say it is too much trouble to go to the polls. Vote by mail should have solved that problem, but there was little change in voter turn out.

I often hear things like "I don't like any of the candidates so I won't vote at all." Or," they're all corrupt so why bother." or, "My vote won't make any difference." The third excuse is my favorite. The history books are full of examples where one vote made the difference in an election. One of the oldest examples is when our third President, Thomas Jefferson, was elected by a margin of one vote.

So I must ask the following question. "To vote or not to vote." On November 6 of this year we will be electing the government officials who will be leading our community, state and nation for at least the next two years. It doesn't make any difference whether you like any of the candidates or think they're all corrupt. The bottom line is in 99 percent of all cases one of the candidates on the ballot will win the elected office which they are seeking.

We may or may not have a lot of good choices during the electoral process but we do have choices. Most people in this world don't have a choice. So even if we don't like any of the candidates we should at the very least vote for the person we believe will damage our Community, State or Nation the least.

Every registered voter in the state of Washington will receive a ballot in the mail in about two weeks. All you need to do is fill it out, put a stamp on it and drop it in the mail. So let's join the rest of the people who care about our country and vote in November.

Mike Montaney

Ephrata