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Jennifer Hill is a writer from Waldo.
I am a voter. I believe in the process. Most election years I have a road sign in front of my house. I’ve had gatherings for candidates inside, too. This year, I worked extensively on a local campaign, like I hadn’t done since running for the Maine House of Representatives myself in 1990. What a change has come over us!
For one, newspapers and debate stages have shrunk or disappeared altogether. In 1990 Belfast had not one but two local weekly newspapers. The Belfast library had an auditorium then, with a real stage on which all the local candidates were seated. Questions were asked by reporters scribbling answers onto their notepads, followed by lively questions and comments from the standing-room-only audience. I remember one woman shaking in rage about the very idea of legalizing pot.
Those were the days you would walk into a local coffee shop on a given Thursday and find a sea of open newspapers with folks behind catching up on columnist Mike Brown’s opinions, always sure to evoke heated discussion. We were not just reading the news but digesting it.
The second change is even more disturbing, if possible. Not only is the auditorium at the library gone, but politics itself has become itself a shameful activity. After eagerly setting up a Facebook page for my candidate this year, I found most other Facebook pages declining to post anything political. Worse, when I tried to put up a brochure for my candidate at the local co-op, I was met with a cold refusal. When I pushed back a bit, suggesting that voters would like information on who is running so they’ll know how they want to vote, the response was decided “no.” People might get turned off.
This is the state of our democracy in 2024. How are we to operate a democracy with the electorate so uninformed, with citizens so disgusted with the free election process from which they have become so alienated? The brilliant equation of one person, one vote, where the rich don’t get a bigger say and the powerful are equal to the weak, the secret ballot gives us all freedom to express our unfettered decisions.
But what are we basing this coveted decision on? What have we got? Rumor. Gossip. Misinformation invented by internet trolls. Will reasonable decisions be made based on facts? I fear not. As the climate heats up, so do the politics wither.
Jog your mind this Nov. 5 by doing a little research before you vote. Google the candidates, check the sources for accuracy, and find out what they think before heading to the polls to exercise your precious rights.
Election notice: The BDN will stop accepting letters and columns related to the Nov. 5 election on Wednesday, Oct. 30. Not all submissions can be published.
