Make your voice heard - Go Vote

This week’s article is somewhat of a reprint of one from last year and is going to be very direct – GO VOTE!!

Last year, I wrote an article about voting and how important it is; not only to our society as a whole, but most definitely right here in Milam County. This week, we are in the one-week early voting cycle for the 2024 Primary Runoff which ends on Friday, May 24, and we need as many of our nearly 15,000 registered voters in Milam County to come out to the polls.

In my previous articles, I pointed out that mid-year and runoff elections are usually decided by about 15 percent of the population or less. Do we really want just 15 percent of the voters to decide the future of Milam County? I didn’t think so. Also of importance is that the number of voters in elections affects funding and spending programs that come out of the state and federal legislatures.

A county that votes is a county that gets recognized. When counties vote in significant numbers, politicians and political parties recognize that and that recognition translates into more attention being paid to the wants, needs, and desires of the county as a whole. Likewise, when the county’s voting percentage is low, that county is often overlooked because those in elected office don’t consider that electorate to be very significant in getting them elected or unelected. 

Rightly or wrongly, the influence a county might have can be attributed to one of three reasons; wealthy residents, healthier business or industry, or a high voter turnout. In Milam County we are on the uptick for both wealthier residents and a more robust business and industrial future, but what will draw the recognition from our state and federal elected officials today is to set a precedent as a very active and outgoing electorate.

This week starts the State Republican Convention and next moth the state Democrat Convention will be held. During these conventions, many of our county folks will be in attendance and there will be various state and federal officials there to discuss issues with our county folks. But the truth is, these elected officials understand which counties matter in an election and one of the ways we show them that we matter in Milam County is to vote in every election that we are allowed to vote in.

In closing, go out and vote. We are a free society, but freedom has some requirements. Often, we hear about standing up for our rights, well voting is a right we all have, and many have died in protection of our right to vote. I’m often amazed at the number of people who cry out about their right to this or their right to that and then don’t take advantage of their basic right to vote. I hear people say all the time that “my vote doesn’t matter.” 

Last year, the Cameron ISD bond issue passed by one vote and this year the bond issue in Gause passed by ten votes. Truth is that every vote counts. 

Early voting continues until Friday with the Primary Runoff Election Day on May 28. Details can be found in this newspaper. Please get out and vote.