Lubbock County just recorded its lowest early voting turnout for a May election since 2014. Over the course of eight grueling days, a whopping 7,800 people managed to drag themselves to the polls. To put that in perspective, we probably have more people waiting in the drive-thru at Chick-fil-A on a Tuesday morning than we have citizens interested in who runs our schools or sets our property taxes.
Elections Administrator Roxzine Stinson mentioned that 2014 was the last time participation was this pathetic. She suggested that a state holiday might be to blame for the ghost-town vibe at the polling sites. Because, obviously, nothing stops a Lubbockite from performing their civic duty quite like the paralyzing distraction of San Jacinto Day. It’s hard to check a ballot when you’re busy… doing whatever it is people do to celebrate a state holiday that isn’t even a day off for most of us.
Stinson tried her best to remind everyone that these local elections actually matter, seeing as these are the people deciding how many potholes you have to dodge on your way to work and how much of your paycheck they get to keep. There are 35 voting locations open, making it statistically easier to find a place to vote than it is to find a street in this town that isn’t under construction.
But let’s be real: when the candidate list looks like a “Who’s Who” of people you’d actively avoid at a supermarket, it’s hard to get the blood pumping. When your options for local leadership are a choice between “Guy Who Has Been There Too Long” and “Guy Whose Only Platform Is A Loud Truck,” staying home and watching the dirt blow across the backyard starts to look like a productive afternoon.
After all, why bother voting for who manages the city’s dumpster fire when we’re all too busy coughing on the smoke?
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