Your primary vote doesn’t matter…or does it?

By Sun Advocate

Many people think that voting in a presidential primary really doesn’t make a difference… or does it? But before you make a decision you ought to read on.
If you asked 92 percent of the registered voters in Carbon County they would tell you it didn’t. Why? They left their vote at home during the 2000 primaries.
But, if you talk to the 7.29 percent of registered voters who did vote (804 of them) they’d tell you their vote did made a difference. They’d tell you that they wielded strong power with their X. That small percentage made the decision for all the rest of us. Talk about power!
That’s especially true when you realize that those 804 ballots were divided between the Democrat, Republican and Independent primaries. Bush was running against Forbes and Bower on the Republican ticket. Gore and Bradley were sparring for the Democratic nomination and there were even some Independents, (Dodge and Phillips). With all of that political action on in the press, only seven percent of us cast our opinion in ink.
I don’t really know why so few voted. We’re all busy, disgruntled, tired or otherwise occupied. Perhaps the question of why we didn’t turn out should be left up to political science professors.
I was raised with great pride in our Carbon County heritage. We are made of real stock here. Everyone I know is a descendent of immigrants who came from a foreign country to find a new life, financial or political freedom, and, of course, coal.
It seems like the television pundits are wielding more power these days. They predict how we will vote before we go to the polls and then they announce the results before the election is even over. Fewer people are calling the shots and that isn’t right.
We can vote this Tuesday in the presidential primaries. Any registered voter can cast a ballot. Only the Democrats have candidates this time around. But this is an open primary, so all you have to do is ask for a Democratic ballot.
You can vote at any open polling place in the county. Locations are the Helper City Library, Price City Library, the East Carbon Senior Citizen’s Center, the Wellington City Hall and the CEU Student Center. The polls will be open from noon until 8 pm. I hope that I have to wait in a long line to cast my ballot this year.