Local elections DO matter!
Participating in local elections isn’t fun, exciting, sexy, or thrilling. However, as much as it is our civic duty as citizens to participate most people don’t bother. Unfortunately it’s difficult to become informed about the candidates, decide what issues are important, and make it to the polls by 8pm. All that being said, here are three reasons why local elections do matter.
- Elected local government officials have a say in how millions of dollars of your taxes are spent in your own backyard.
- Policy decisions impact your city, county, and local school for years to come.
- Without your vote small group interests can easily influence local elections — and their agenda may be much different from your own and your neighbor’s.
On a daily basis our business sees the direct impact of local decisions. In fact, we only gather data from local governments and school boards. We witness alders arguing with developers for projects that better suit local neighborhoods, decisions made about how to handle water treatment, and when to purchase new playground equipment for parks. All of these decisions are made by people in our own neighborhoods representing us.
Our software scans approximately 7,000 unique documents each week and watches millions of dollars spent. We can testify that from the smallest village to the largest city elected officials have an incredible amount of decision making power. Our team will always be proud local election voters.
