Don’t sleep through primary; get out early to cast your ballot

Psst! In case you haven’t heard, campaign season in the Mahoning Valley and Ohio is shifting into full gear these final weeks before the May 6 primary election.

To be sure, electoral ignorance and apathy are understandable this season. The 2014 primary lacks the impact of a presidential race or the pizzazz of an emotionally charged initiative such as legalizing marijuana or gay marriage.

Nonetheless, many important races and community and school issues deserve our notice — and our active participation. That means voters should educate themselves on ballot fare, make reasoned choices and then exercise their constitutional responsibility to vote. For added convenience, they can do so early — be it today, most any weekday and even the Saturday before Election Day at county boards of elections.

And despite legitimate criticisms of misguided efforts in Columbus to narrow the window of our voting opportunities, Ohio still offers myriad convenient, early and accessible ways to do so by absentee ballot or in-person voting.

Our hope is to see much more active participation in the electoral process than seen in the last gubernatorial election in May 2010. Then, a paltry 25 percent of some 180,000 registered voters cast ballots in Mahoning County. Contrast that with the 63 percent who turned out here for the 2012 presidential election.

One could logically argue, however, that the races and issues facing Valley voters next month wield far more direct impact on their daily lives than decisions on who will live in the White House.

The ballot choices Valley voters make can stretch into virtually every aspect of their lives. The decisions can touch their pocketbooks, the quality of their children’s education, their health care, the ease of travel on their roadways and the overall quality of life in their community.

IMPORTANT RACES, ISSUES

Consider just a few of the critical questions that residents can sound off on in this election. Should Austintown voters approve a bond issue to construct a new $64 million high school? Should Mahoning County voters approve a continuous renewal of a county sales tax? Should Youngstown voters give third thoughts to approving a ban on hydraulic fracturing after rejecting the initiative twice in the past year?

Toward answering those questions, The Vindicator and Vindy.com in coming days will present informative stories profiling candidates’ views and explaining in depth the wealth of community and school issues on next month’s ballots. Once readers make up their minds, they can rest assured they will have ample opportunities to formalize those choices on and well before Election Day.

Ohio has 20 days of early-voting access at all 88 county boards of election. Some states have as few as four. Eighteen have none.

Early voting also is easy and relatively hassle-free. Unlike 20 states that require documented excuses to cast ballots, Ohio could care less why residents choose to vote early.

Many voters cite the ease of casting ballots early. Elenora Sipp of Youngstown who was among the first to vote last week at the Mahoning County Board of Elections, sums up the convenience factor well: “We’re just trying to get it over with so we don’t have to stand in line at our polling place,” she said.

Leon Turek of Boardman noted convenience as a factor in his early vote last week, adding, “I vote so I have the right to complain.”

Turek is absolutely correct. Those who fail to take seriously their responsibility to vote forfeit the right to whine about people, policies and issues that others have selected for them. Even though it may lack sex appeal, the May 6 primary remains an election that responsible citizens can ill afford to sleep through.