Don't vote? Then don't complain!

Election night only had a few surprises locally, but one that wasn’t a pleasant surprise was voter turnout. Flathead County and the rest of the state continued a trend of declining citizen involvement, and Montana’s turnout was way better than the national rate.

In Montana, the turnout was a relatively paltry 54.7 percent, and Flathead County’s rate was even worse — at just 51 percent. Mind you, this is the percentage of registered voters who actually voted; when you look at the percentage of eligible voters who actually voted, you get down in the truly depressing realm of 40 percent or less.

And, remember, that’s with all the conveniences that have been provided to citizens to make it easy for them to vote — a simplified registration process, easy access through motor voter programs, absentee voting for people who aren’t really absent, Election Day voter registration. Heck, if football were this easy, everyone would have a Super Bowl ring!

We’ve heard a lot of people say they just don’t care about elections, or they don’t know who to vote for, or they were too busy. Sorry, but none of those excuses are valid. The next time you complain about how the government is doing something you don’t like, trust us — we don’t care what you have to say! If you don’t know who to vote for, it is because you were too lazy to find out. Too busy? Doing what — watching TV? If you can’t find a spare hour to exercise your right to vote, then don’t come crying to us when you don’t like what the city council, county commission, state Legislature, Congress or president did! When you sacrificed the right to vote, you lost the right to complain.

And yes, your vote matters. Just ask Jerry O’Neil, the incumbent legislator who lost his bid for re-election by fewer than 50 votes. Just ask your neighbor, whose life may be put at risk because a funding formula for the 911 dispatch center lost by less than one-third of 1 percent.

Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone in the world has the right to express that opinion at the ballot box the way Americans do. Next year, don’t let your freedom go to waste.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake's editorial board.