Voting is a right, not a privilege
by Alec O'Meara http://www.meredithnhnews.com
February 22, 2007
While sitting in on the Moultonboro Board of Selectmen's warrant recommendations, we heard our least favorite argument against SB-2: that making it easier to vote somehow deludes the democratic process. The argument takes on many faces, but it generally says that because Town Meeting forces everyone present to hear all sides of an issue before voting, it makes for more informed voters. In SB-2, anybody with a free 10 minutes on a Tuesday can vote, and the person who steps into the voting booth may be the most uninformed, apathetic, borderline anarchist in town. As a result, SB-2 may result in the downfall of civilization as we know it, because the unwashed masses may gain too strong a voice.
February 22, 2007
While sitting in on the Moultonboro Board of Selectmen's warrant recommendations, we heard our least favorite argument against SB-2: that making it easier to vote somehow deludes the democratic process. The argument takes on many faces, but it generally says that because Town Meeting forces everyone present to hear all sides of an issue before voting, it makes for more informed voters. In SB-2, anybody with a free 10 minutes on a Tuesday can vote, and the person who steps into the voting booth may be the most uninformed, apathetic, borderline anarchist in town. As a result, SB-2 may result in the downfall of civilization as we know it, because the unwashed masses may gain too strong a voice.
In Moultonboro, the version of the argument we heard was "vote their wallet," meaning that under SB-2, residents will simply vote down all budgets because it is the easy thing to do, and it is a surefire way to keep that tax bill down. Because they didn't hear all the key information at town meeting, they will not care what the money will be spent for, only that they personally won't be spending it. As a result, SB-2 destroys the town, because uninformed voters "vote their wallet."
It's a bad argument, and it doesn't work for a very simple reason: if someone "votes their wallet," they may be acting grossly irresponsible, small minded, and foolish, but they can still do it. It's allowed. Actually, it's their right as citizens to be as small minded as they want to be. If they want to vote that way, it is the job of any civil servant to help that person do so, even if they fundamentally disagree with that person's opinions and values.
Without a doubt, Wolfeboro's difficulties in getting its water usage issue passed is an embarrassing one for that particular town, and it happened under SB-2. However, the Tilton-Northfield Fire District is dealing with an equally embarrassing situation as the district pays $100-plus a day as it waits to undo a mess that resulted when a vote to purchase a fire truck went wrong. That happened at the annual meeting. In other words, dumb votes can happen anytime, in any town. Voter apathy will remain a problem regardless of the issue, and the only way to make sure that voters will make informed decisions is to do the very best job you can to inform the entire public.
SB-2 is not a perfect solution. There are a ton of problems that still need to be figured out, and the system can be abused by a small, motivated group of people just as easily as it can in town meeting, if not easier. We have a serious problem with that. However, every time we look at this issue, we keep coming back to the fact that the number of people who vote on the warrant under SB-2 usually triples or even quadruples that in a town meeting format. If four times as many people can find the time to vote under one form of government as opposed to another, then how does one argue with that?
The only argument worse than the "unwashed masses" argument, which has been used historically to try and keep women and minorities gaining the right to vote (think about it), is that it takes too long to fill out an extra long SB-2 ballot in a voting booth. C'mon. Town meeting takes hours. Voting in a booth takes minutes. There's no comparison.
In this particular country, voting is considered a universal right, not a privilege for the few who put in extra effort. If you are an American citizen and you kill 18 people and are serving life in prison, you have a right to vote for the president of the United States. Keeping that in mind, then maybe the guy who has to work the night shift on a Wednesday should have the right to vote on town issues in Moultonboro. -A.O.
It's a bad argument, and it doesn't work for a very simple reason: if someone "votes their wallet," they may be acting grossly irresponsible, small minded, and foolish, but they can still do it. It's allowed. Actually, it's their right as citizens to be as small minded as they want to be. If they want to vote that way, it is the job of any civil servant to help that person do so, even if they fundamentally disagree with that person's opinions and values.
Without a doubt, Wolfeboro's difficulties in getting its water usage issue passed is an embarrassing one for that particular town, and it happened under SB-2. However, the Tilton-Northfield Fire District is dealing with an equally embarrassing situation as the district pays $100-plus a day as it waits to undo a mess that resulted when a vote to purchase a fire truck went wrong. That happened at the annual meeting. In other words, dumb votes can happen anytime, in any town. Voter apathy will remain a problem regardless of the issue, and the only way to make sure that voters will make informed decisions is to do the very best job you can to inform the entire public.
SB-2 is not a perfect solution. There are a ton of problems that still need to be figured out, and the system can be abused by a small, motivated group of people just as easily as it can in town meeting, if not easier. We have a serious problem with that. However, every time we look at this issue, we keep coming back to the fact that the number of people who vote on the warrant under SB-2 usually triples or even quadruples that in a town meeting format. If four times as many people can find the time to vote under one form of government as opposed to another, then how does one argue with that?
The only argument worse than the "unwashed masses" argument, which has been used historically to try and keep women and minorities gaining the right to vote (think about it), is that it takes too long to fill out an extra long SB-2 ballot in a voting booth. C'mon. Town meeting takes hours. Voting in a booth takes minutes. There's no comparison.
In this particular country, voting is considered a universal right, not a privilege for the few who put in extra effort. If you are an American citizen and you kill 18 people and are serving life in prison, you have a right to vote for the president of the United States. Keeping that in mind, then maybe the guy who has to work the night shift on a Wednesday should have the right to vote on town issues in Moultonboro. -A.O.
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