“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.”
West Virginia is known for its good people. But this quote, frequently but falsely attributed to Edmund Burke, applies aptly to voting in West Virginia.
Voting has two essential components: Registration and participation. For the 2022 general election, 63% of eligible voters in West Virginia were registered, but voter participation was only 38%. When we do the math, fewer than 1 in 4 (24%) of all eligible West Virginia voters made the choices we all live with. In the 2020 presidential election, during the pandemic lockdown, 67% of eligible voters were registered and voter participation was 56%, a historic high. When we do that math, 38% of all eligible voters — a clear minority — made the choices for us all.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducts a Survey of the Performance of American Elections in all 50 states after presidential elections. The results for West Virginia had some notable anomalies compared to the national results in that the number one reason given in our state for not voting was illness or disability, followed by did not like the candidates or campaign issues and finally, they were too busy or had conflicting work, family or school schedules.
Illness, injury or other immobility due to disability are all valid reasons to use absentee ballots to vote in our state. They can be obtained from your county clerk’s office or by logging into sos.wv.gov. If you have missed the deadline for May, all early voting locations have ample handicapped parking and accessibility features.
It is easy and convenient to blame the candidates and the campaign issues as a primary reason not to vote, especially when most advertising is negative. The best way to get past the negativity is to decide which issues are most important to you. Is it funding solid infrastructure, is it protecting the rights of women, is it environmental causes, is it making sure the rights of your family are protected even if they are a member of the LGBTQI community?
The Dominion Post voter’s guide (5-5-24) does an excellent job documenting candidates’ positions on major issues or their agendas every election year. Some candidates choose not to participate, which raises our suspicions as to why they chose not to, but those who do give us valuable insight into what kind of representative they will be and show they are interested in earning our vote.
Life is busy; it’s sometimes complicated to juggle the multitude of responsibilities we all have. This makes early voting an essential tool. We have listed the early voting dates, times and locations below.
Early in-person voting
May 1-11, except Sundays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at:
- Mountaineer Mall, 5000 Green Bag Road (front, next to Mylan)
- Mason-Dixon Park, 79 Buckeye Road, Core (red barn)
- Suncrest Towne Centre, 525 Suncrest Towne Centre Drive, Suite 101
Primary Election Day
May 14, 6:30 a.m.- 7:30 p.m. at your assigned precinct. Visit https://www.monongaliacountyclerk.com/index.php/17-current-election/116-2024-primary-election-information
We must be cognizant that politicians, and the decisions they make by proxy of our vote, are a driving force of our daily lives. Things like how much our property taxes will be, how those dollars will be spent, how local schools are staffed and run and to which garbage service and cable company our town will be beholden to for services.
In the bigger picture, the higher offices such as governor and president exercise the power of who they appoint to oversee executive agencies like health and human services, public service commissions and superintendents of education. Those positions serve at the will and direction of the executives that appoint them.
The power of “we, the people” lies in participating in elections; it is how we choose who wields the authority of public office. Excuses are convenient, but in the end, we all pay the price for voters’ apathy.
