It amazes me that in America’s oldest town, which for all practical purposes is a city, a pathetically small voter turnout has become the norm, at least insofar as municipal elections are concerned. Four short centuries ago, ships from England arrived here in Plymouth filled with oppressed persons seeking freedom and dreams of establishing a government by which they have the right to choose. Along with other unalienable rights, the right to vote was a catalyst for which they risked their lives.
And yet, along with so many other freedoms which have assumed a consumptive corner in too many attics and are sadly taken for granted, for some inexplicable reason, [Plymouth residents] seem to be following, not leading.
The half-hour or less that it takes to complete a ballot and mail it in or to drive to one of 18 precinct polling places once or twice a year doesn’t impress me as being an unworthy expectation in exchange for living in this incredibly beautiful place by the sea that we call home.
Memorial Day honors those young men and women who died keeping our country free. The very smallest thing each of us can do moving forward is to repay their ultimate sacrifice by unselfishly giving back to them 30 minutes once a year to vote.
Clark T. Corson