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Regardless of political party, regardless of where we live, we can agree that the more voters who turn out to make their views known, the better. The more who cast ballots at town and school election, the better. And in Senate Bill 2 (SB2) communities, the more people who attend deliberative session and get to have their say, the better. In any scenario, the reality exists that a small, select group will sway the election. If those who want a new school or town hall built do their best to get similar-thinking people to the polls, and those who don't want to foot the bill aren't as well organized, the pro-school side can be expected to win. And vice versa. The same thing will happen at deliberative session, if proponents of one side - the marriage question of last March, for example - go home early, leaving the opponents to change the question to make it moot. It all comes down to something very simple. If you want your opinion - and your vote - to count, you have to participate. And just like the infamous laws in the South that kept Blacks from the polls, we aren't supposed to make it difficult for people to have their say. Many towns turned to SB2 government when they saw the number of voters attending Town Meeting dwindle. The idea was that more people would go to the polls on Election Day, and the deliberative session that accompanies SB2 would give residents a chance to learn about, debate and potentially change warrant articles before they appeared on the ballot. Not quite the same as Town Meeting, where debate and voting all take place at the same event. But the deliberative session was created as an opportunity for residents to debate issues and change warrant articles. Last week in a 6 to 3 vote, the Londonderry Charter Commission approved recommending official town ballot voting to Londonderry citizens, thus opening up the possibility for more people to cast their vote on every warrant article. In today's world, where people feel as if they have little time to devote to town issues, we should be doing everything we can to get more people to believe their vote counts. And if you fear that a small group of people will dominate the prospective deliberative session, there's a solution - get out to the session yourself. Bring your friends and neighbors. After all, democracy is not a spectator sport. _________________ |
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