A Day To Remember That's Not Election Day...

A little less than a month from now, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, our city will holds its municipal elections. While candidates finish campaigning and voters make up their minds as to who to vote for, a very important date approaches next week. Please remember Wednesday, October 19.

Wednesday, October 19, is the last day to register to vote in the city of Attleboro for this year’s elections. For those of you can vote, but haven’t registered, this is your deadline to do so in order to cast a ballot in November.

I am fortunate enough to be able to vote for the first time in my life during this election. Now, when I was a kid (a younger kid anyway), I was under the impression that everyone voted. As I’ve grown up, I’ve learned that isn’t so. Not everyone votes, even in Presidential elections.

However, I hope we move towards more and more people voting. As I think is obvious, our country is in the midst of great hardship. At the heart of it, in regards to the national level anyway, is political dysfunction. The people elected to represent us in D.C. are having trouble getting things done. How were those representatives elected? By a relatively small percentage of voters who are eligible to vote. If people feel these days that Washington isn’t listening to them, well, many people aren’t taking the necessary step of making their voices heard on Election Day.

In regards to the city, I’ve been lucky to get to know members of the city council and school committee through my time on the . I can personally attest to the honor and communal interest of each and every elected official. But each elected official, unfortunately, cannot fully represent their constituents if more people don’t vote. If not everyone expresses their views, how will city elected officials know what all their constituents want?

Obviously, knowing about the issues and candidates is important before voting, but these days, finding out about them is easy. Each candidate for instance, usually has a website, a phone number, or email they can be reached at and would love to talk to anyone interested in local elections. And of course, a person can take a daily look at AttleboroPatch and Sun Chronicle.

If transportation to the polls is an issue, again, I’m sure talking to the candidates could be a help. Often candidates will help their voters with rides to the polls. If you want to vote for someone, but have trouble getting to the polls, I’m sure they could arrange for a ride.

I’m looking forward to voting for the first time. I think it’s important. Attleboro has a grand destiny ahead of it–that it's of one of the best cities to live in the state, or maybe even the country. But the city can’t reach its full potential until everybody, from the newest voter to the most veteran campaigner, plays a part in the affairs of the city.

A lack of voting is one of the common things that are a concern in civic affairs. The second thing that I feel is a noted concern is what I’ll talk about next week, along with a project I’ve been working on that I hope will address it.