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April 1, 2009

Anonymous The Tahlequah Daily Press Wed Apr 01, 2009, 11:13 AM CDT

A report appearing last week in the Tulsa World included some rather disconcerting numbers regarding last November’s presidential election. It showed that in some areas of the state, young people are still disengaged from the political process.

Although the report didn’t get into the specific of Cherokee County statistics, it provided details for Wagoner and Adair counties. And what a disparity there was between those two areas!

In Wagoner County, 61 percent of voters under age 30 cast ballots Nov. 4, which put that region at the top of the state list for voter turnout. In nearby Adair County, however, only 37 percent of that same group of voters bothered going to the polls, ranking it at 76th out of all 77 counties in young voter turnout.

Although young Republicans in Adair County showed slightly more interest than their Democratic counterparts, the numbers were still low. Election board officials there said the presidential election that excited so many of the country’s young people had little impact in Adair County. Meanwhile, in Wagoner County, population growth was credited for the large turnout of young voters.

With a number of Northeastern State University students casting ballots, one might assume our area would hew closer to Wagoner County’s numbers than Adair County’s. However, that’s not the case. With a breakdown for young voter turnout in five categories, ours was in the second-to-lowest: Between 42.9 and 46.5 percent cast ballots here.

These numbers tell us there is still much work to be done in getting young people to take part in the political process. They still need to be shown that their voices do matter, and that voting is a duty and a privilege, not a chore of drudgery undertaken when there’s nothing better to do.

Indeed, the young folks aren’t the only one who need a serious civics lesson. Some of us in the 30-, 40-, and 50-year-old crowd need to get more involved as well.

On Tuesday, April 7, Tahlequah voters (though not all those in Cherokee County) will get a chance to express their political opinion.

A much-contested race will pit incumbent Steve Farmer against challenger Clay Mahaney. Certainly this race should be considered very critical, and anyone who has any potential connection with law enforcement – that is, everyone – should vote.

That’s not the only issue, though. Voters are also being asked to determine whether to continue a city sales tax, which would be used for much-needed upgrades within the city and the Tahlequah school district, as well as Grand View and Briggs.

Officials have been explaining proposed expenditures, and the Press has published several articles as well. One appeared, in fact, in the Tuesday edition.

Regardless of your age, you owe it to yourself and your community to vote. It doesn’t take much time to cast the actual ballot, although educating yourself as to the best candidate or right stance on issues might require you to put on your thinking cap. Still, it’s the right thing to do. Make sure you do it.

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