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Registering locally way to make local impact

By Zack Colman

Created:
11/04/08 12:08pm

Last updated:
11/04/08 12:13pm

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If gas weren’t $2.18 per gallon, driving home to vote would have been more painful.

Admittedly, not registering to vote in East Lansing was the wrong decision. If I weren’t lazy, maybe I would have filed for an absentee ballot or registered here. But my numerous unpaid parking tickets and the fact that I am writing this blog from my bed because my desk has been invaded by textbooks, old papers, empty plastic cups and a complimentary Captain Morgan’s winter hat should tell you I’m not exactly somebody who is on top of things.

My dad gave me a sample ballot last night to look over, and I did my research on the candidates before I voted. Still, there is not enough time in one night to learn about the candidates compared to the weeks students at MSU have been buzzing about people such as state Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing and his Republican challenger Frank Lambert, or U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton and his Democratic opponent Bob Alexander. I robbed myself of the thrill of voting for people I actually cared about.

The reason I missed out on this opportunity is because I was initially blinded by the allure of the presidential race. We have to remember, though, that we are deciding more than just the leader of our nation for the next four years.

It’s interesting to think how little emphasis we place on our local representatives. When James Madison and the other founding fathers set the framework for our nation’s political institutions, they thought people would be most passionate about the local governments in which citizens could have the most direct impact. With town hall style governments so popular in colonial New England, I guess this is the only evidence they had for this theory.

Now, we are more invested in the White House than the town hall. It’s only natural, given everybody has the opportunity to vote for president but I can’t vote for the Michigan’s 7th District U.S. representative. Still, we need to think about why we’re voting, and that is to get our voices heard. Our local and most direct representatives can do that best.

And if I had thought about that before, I would have saved some gas money.

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