Election Day / Local Politics

Yesterday was Election Day in New York State; my registration issues* being finally resolved, I was able to vote for the first time. Afterward, I felt like I was really part of something. I am skeptical of the difference one vote can make on a national level, but I see no excuse at all for not voting in local elections. Our participatory government is only as good as the participants.

That said, choices between candidates often come down to which candidate is the lesser of the evils. In two of the races that I voted on yesterday, the choices were a candidate who was honest but incompetent and a candidate who was clearly dishonest and of uncertain competency. From what I hear and read, meetings of the Cortland County legislature bear stronger resemblance to the crowd at a sporting event between arch rivals than to a civilized government meeting. I'm not aware of any particular legislator being more than normally corrupt and without integrity, but as a whole that body has done some highly questionable things in recent years. A man my family has known for decades served as a legislator for one term and did not run for reelection because he couldn't stomach the bullshit.

Both of my grandfathers held elected positions in their local governments for multiple terms; I believe my mom's father was chairman of the Cortland County legislature for a time. Others of my relatives and ancestors have been involved in government and public service as well. I've always been proud of this heritage but never identified with it. I've spent at least the last 6 years steadfastly ignoring politics because paying attention made me incredibly sad and angry and I didn't want to live my life that way.

Once again, I think my DNA and heritage are getting the better of me. I'm learning how to deal with the frustrating aspects of paying attention and starting to think that I might want to get involved with local politics someday. Of course, I'll have to come up with some sort of scheme to deal with the mess that is our local politics these days or I'll be like the man who didn't run for reelection. Well, it's definitely an ongoing process.

*Registration issues: They say that you can register to vote at any time in the year you turn 18. Well, if you're like me and try to register 2 months before your birthday, they put your form in a box and forget about it, and by the time you realize that you didn't receive any notification that you're registered, it's too late. Then, when you move to MA, they take your name off the registration list without telling you, and when you move back to NY and find this out, it's too late. The Board of Elections is not my friend. They're also not my friend because they couldn't be bothered to help me find out which races I could vote on. It's all better now, though.