Early voting numbers a record

If the Election Day voting matches the huge surge in early and absentee voting, this could be a record year for voter turnout.

Roughly 6,800 voters had voted early or absentee as of last Wednesday afternoon, with three early voting days and Election Day ahead. That’s more than double the total number of people who cast their votes early or absentee in the primary, which is a shame, because a lot was decided by a lot fewer people in that election.

Hopefully, if you’re reading this today (Tuesday), you either have voted or are planning to vote by 7 p.m. This is an important election … because every election is an important election. This is one of those civic duties our great nation was founded upon — we vote on our representation in government, who best matches our ideals.

And those decisions should matter whether we’re deciding who the next president will be, and who will represent us on the Park County School District 1 board.

I was happy to see a decent number of college students — much of the student senate, to be precise — sitting down and listening to four NWC board candidates a week before the election talking about their visions for the future of the college.

An educated electorate should make the best decisions at the ballot box for that electorate. Of course, many people don’t have time to attend forums, and many people voted before some of the forums or candidate profiles were even revealed, but I hope everyone has taken care with their votes throughout the ballot, not just for president.

Yes, a lot is at stake in this presidential election, and who is leading the country the next four years will have a big effect on Park County. But that’s no less true for the races down ballot. The school and college board make decisions that shape the educational institutions that so many of our young people move through on their way to their adult lives.

The city government could be deciding on what you or your neighbor could do with a piece of property someday.

So hopefully, as you’re reading this you’re swelled up with civic pride, maybe even sporting an “I Voted” sticker. Just think, what else can any one person do in such a relatively short stretch of time that has quite the countywide, statewide and worldwide impact as voting?