ARE LOCAL ELECTIONS

IMPORTANT?

Written By: Meghan Reily | October 4, 2018 | meghanhreily@gmail.com

It’s that time of year again. Voting season is here! Starting November 6th, the polls for general local

elections open across the nation. Eligible citizens will have the opportunity to express their voice and cast their

vote for a political candidate that will represent their local and state governments.

These elected officials will not only represent local communities, but will have the responsibility to

make decisions on specific addressed issues that have an effect on the lives of those within the community and

state.

With over 50 positions needed to be filled, voters will have the opportunity to elect candidates for posi

tions for the Texas State Representative, Texas Governor, as well as the Nacogdoches County Judge.
 Each candidate sets their main priorities that they will focus on if elected to showcase what they have

the potential to do if elected. For example, the current Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has his priorities set on

property tax reform, control over human trafficking, border security, as well as to increase teacher salary.

Dale Morton, the Nacogdoches County Republican Party Chairman, works to increase political aware

ness and hopes to increase the percent of voter turnout this upcoming election. “It’s really important that every

voter votes because every vote does matter.” Dale Morton said.

According to Texas’s Secretary of State, in the March 2018 primary election, there were about

15,249,541 registered voters in Texas. However, only 10% of those voters participated in the election. The ques

tion that remains is why the voter turnout in Texas is relatively low for local elections and why it is continuing

to decline.

“People tend to vote when they are happy with what’s going on and they tend to not consider it as urgent

or important when they have issues that have made it big in the media because those issues have already been

address,” Morton said. “However, I think people tend to vote when they’re concerned about the direction that

things are going.”

Although there are various potential reasons that registered voters decide not to participate in the elec

tion process, Morton claims that the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election could have an effect on the num

ber of voter turnout.

“We have an issue on the ballot this November that reflects how people have been stirred up by anger

from the election two years later, so this can reflect on the number of voter turnout, Morton said. “I don’t think

that we have an election that is ‘unimportant’, if it were unimportant we wouldn’t spend the time or money to

have a local election.”

In order to increase the percent of voter turnout, it is highly advised that citizens within their local com

munities are aware of the importance local elections have on the community and what can result by participat

ing in these elections. “The local issues affect people more in their community and in their day-to-day life,”

Morton said. “They will see how those votes affect them more quickly than they will generally in the national-
level. Regardless of the issue, local ones have a great effect on ourselves, on how children, and on our grandchil

dren.”

Early voting will be held at the Nacogdoches Courthouse Annex, October 22nd, and the General Elec

tion will open November 6th, where registered voters can vote on what matters to them and let their voices be

heard.

For more information, visit the following sources to learn more about how to become more involved

with the 2018 General Election.

http://www.co.nacogdoches.tx.us/ElectionInformation/CurrentElectionInformation.asp

http://www.co.nacogdoches.tx.us/departments/elections.asp

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/2018-important-election-dates.shtml