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Opinion

And you think our voter turnout is low? 

Christian Palmer
Opinion Columnist

For years now, politicians and otherwise concerned people have been complaining about low voter turnout, especially among young people. However, one Missouri town has the rest of the country beat in terms of democracy inaction.

Joe Selle of Missouri City, Mo., was appointed to fill a vacancy in the city council. With Tuesday's local election, the unopposed candidate hoped to make his position permanent, even though not a single vote was cast for him ? none of the 34 voters in Ward 3, not even the candidate, fulfilled their patriotic duty. That was all it took to secure victory. 

It is not exactly clear whether the post is officially his yet. This is the controversy that has local officials baffled. 

Luckily, this being small-town politics, no one in town really seems to care all that much and will let him stay in office until further notice. The charter allows him to remain in power until "another party is successfully elected and qualified." Then again, this same charter, around since before the Civil War, would also have the elected be a "free white male."

Small a town as it may be, this kind of behavior cannot be lightly cast aside. Voting is necessary to our system of government, even if candidates run unopposed. But this raises the questions of what to do if voters disagree with the only option and how to get more people involved with local, state and even national politics. 

It is kind of weird to think of something like this happening in November 2008. If the voters totally reject all candidates and disregard the regular tendency of selecting the lesser of two evils, it is hard to imagine how that would work out. Here's hoping it will not only involve a local sheriff scratching his head.

Though it may turn Washington upside down, it may also force politicians to really look at their platforms and what they are doing and saying to America. We hear a lot about how our nation is polarized, but there is a good chunk of the population that is just stuck in the middle, feeling trapped and disenfranchised because no one represents them or discusses the issues that are relevant to them. 

We could take a page from the Missouri playbook next Election Day and forgo voting to tend to the cows (or do whatever it is people in Missouri do). Or maybe an option to abstain would be just as good. Perhaps if we do want something done right, we need to throw our own hats in the ring and do it ourselves.

Palmer, a communication/sociology junior, 
can be reached at dccampus@mail.uh.edu