Democracy Matters
Our country was founded on the principles of a Representative Democracy, where eligible citizens would gather periodically to elect Representatives who would then convene in a designated location to form a congress and conduct the government’s business on behalf of the people. The framers wrote into our Constitution specific provisions designed to protect certain rights reserved to the people and certain rights reserved to the states, ALL of which were intended to restrict and limit the ruling power, authority, and ability of the Federal Government. This was and remains a grand idea designed to prevent an authoritarian type of government, which was the primary type of government existing during the time our government was formed in the late 1700s. This type of government was called DEMOCRACY and relied on an INFORMED ELECTORATE to vote for their INDIVIDUAL VESTED INTERESTS, thereby providing the final balance between the people and the rulers.
The Democratic system ONLY works well when the majority of eligible voters are informed and participate in elections. Today, in our country, it can be easily demonstrated that only about 25% to 28% of the eligible electorate participates in elections. These numbers can erode to less than 12% participation in mid-term and local elections. The problem here is that the candidates and incumbents who seek public office understand only too well that only those who vote consistently really matter. Certain groups, mainly the poor, uneducated, homeless, old, and infirm, and certain ethnicities, don’t count in an office seeker or incumbent’s political estimations and programs because they notoriously DO NOT VOTE. The evidence of this can be easily seen in the new laws that have popped up in red states such as North Carolina, with its voter suppression laws, and Wisconsin and Michigan, with their anti-union and anti-healthcare laws. California has even been hoodwinked into an “Open Primary” system designed to favor the moneyed candidates on the right wing.
Please don’t kid yourself, MONEY COUNTS, and the Golden Rule is: he who has the gold makes the rules. The wealthy few are calling the tune these days, and the right-wing, tea party republican politicians are dancing to that tune.
Yet, it is still the law in our land that there is one vote per one person, but IF YOU DON’T VOTE YOU DON’T COUNT is the reality of our political process. This is why our current situation in Plumas County exists as it does.
Our organization is dedicated to educating eligible voters in Plumas County and motivating them to…
…on Election Day. To do this consistently and effectively, we need to train ourselves and work to educate the voters on the issues.