The next wave: Youngsters should also be taught responsibility that goes with voting

It is a great idea to make sure that 18-year-olds are signed up as soon as they are able to vote.

What would also be a good idea is to make them understand the responsibilities that go along with stepping into that voting booth.

And while we are at it, perhaps we could teach a few adults those same lessons.

The problem these days is not having enough people signed up to vote, it is getting those who are registered to the ballot box in the first place.

There are far too many people who do not bother to vote, leaving the decisions about their community, state and nation up to a small percentage of the populace. And while in some cases, that might be a good thing, it is not the application of democracy our founding fathers envisioned.

In addition, there are even more people who simply do not know the candidates or the issues at all when they step behind that curtain. Their votes are cast based on ignorance -- another consequence of freedom those who first set the rules in 1776 likely never imagined.

With every voter registration should come a class -- a guidebook if you will -- that outlines what it means to have the privilege and responsibility of voting.

Maybe if we educated a few more people young, we might have more adults out and qualified to vote on Election Day.

Published in Editorials on September 17, 2010 10:29 AM