Once again, the state and Natchitoches Parish voters have failed to do their civic duty to educate themselves on the issues and then vote. Last Saturday’s voter turnout for both the state and Parish was dismal at an approximate rate of 21 percent. That means 100 percent of the citizens will now abide by the will of 21 percent of the voting population. The issues at stake are irrelevant to this discussion. It is the civic duty to vote that is of utmost importance. Since the Revolution there have been approximately 650,000 combat death deaths and approximately 539,000 non-combat deaths suffered by the American military. Within the past week, four American soldiers lost their lives during a training exercise in distant Lithuania. American and Lithuanian military forces are currently engaged in an extremely difficult recovery operation. These lives, and the service of millions more, are to preserve our right, among others, to vote as enshrined in the Constitution. During the ten years I served overseas, my mother, a poll worker, ensured I always received absentee ballots. During the first election after returning from overseas with my three young sons, I took them in the voting booth with me and allowed them to pull the levers to vote. I wanted them to understand the process. To those that choose not to exercise your Constitutional right to vote, please reconsider.

Jim McCrory