The Wasted Privilege of Voting

Let me confess this first: I used to be apathetic and only voted for presidential elections. In the past few years, I've "grown up" about this important right. When I read news from around the world and see how people in other countries so cherish the right to vote and struggle for it, it almost feels like a moral duty to exercise my right to vote. 

This year, the city of Cincinnati experienced an extremely low voter turn out, with the approximate turn out rate of about 30%. Even worse, I'm convinced that informed and intelligent people are not the majority of those who show up at the polls. I'm concerned about us, America. All of us. Let me tell you why by describing my voting experience this year, even though this only touches the tip of the iceberg. 

Since we now live outside of the Cincinnati city limits, I sadly was not able to vote on city issues, but I can tell you about voting in a small "village" in Hamilton County. I was supposed to choose 4 village council members and some board of elections members. I got two fliers from candidates on the council that said essentially nothing substantial about what their vision was for our village prior to elections. One of the candidates came by in person with his wife and talked to my husband. I looked up every person on the ballot online and could not find any information about who I was voting for, except for one person on Facebook. When I went to the polls, two other candidates gave me their cards, which also said nothing substantial. 

I know this is a tiny example, but how is it that there is an expectation of voting blindly? I can't vote for people to represent me when I don't know who they are and what is important to them. But people do that every election. People need to care and demand that they are informed. 

Larger example: The big battle in the mayoral race for Cincinnati was over the Cincinnati Streetcar. There are claims that it would be worth it to deal with all the litigation costs of backing out of all the contracts already in place for a project that has already started construction, and that somehow this would be cheaper and better. There have been no real numbers to prove this, but people voted based on a candidate's position on the streetcar anyway (but only about 30% of the city voters). Now our mayor elect wants to scrap a project that is in line with all the up and coming cities across the country. That could be a whole long rant, but I don't want to ruin my Friday.

Shouldn't we want more- demand more? Doesn't the precious right to vote deserve more thought?