By Staff
A front-page article in today's paper depicted a very disappointing piece of information - low voter turnout.
What happened in Escambia County this past Tuesday seems to be part of a growing trend. In recent elections, voter turnout has dropped time after time.
In 2007 municipal, county and state elections, less than 30 percent of registered voters were able to find their way to the polls. That percentage has dropped in increasing amounts since that time.
In Tuesday's primary, it has been reported that only 16 percent of registered voters made it to the polls to cast a ballot. That information is very disappointing.
Officials have indicated the number of items on the ballot may have a direct impact on the number of voters who mark ballots.
No matter if there are one or 100 items on the ballot, it is the responsibility and duty of every voter to make an attempt to get to the polls.
A statewide run-off election is set for July with municipal elections for Brewton and East Brewton up for a vote in August. Those ballots probably won't have more than a few items to be decided.
We can only wonder just how many people will be interested enough to drive to the polls for those elections. We hope that the municipal elections in August will garner enough attention to raise the percentage of voters who cast ballots.
The general election is set for November to determine, among other things, who will be the next president of the United States. If that isn't reason enough to cast a ballot, it is unsure what would be reason enough to vote.
For those who failed to get to the polls in the primary election, we hope every effort will be made to head to the polls at the next opportunity.
Only 16 percent of our voters found the time and made the effort to vote last Tuesday. We hope that percentage increases in the upcoming elections.
It is our duty to vote. We hope you feel the same way.