OUR TURN: Voting encouragement starts in the classroom

The abysmally low turnout during the Marble Falls municipal elections last weekend indicate the clear need to somehow get voters involved again.

Several key issues were on the table, including a $50,000 homestead tax exemption city officials say could lead to cuts in services and severe belt-tightening now that it has passed.

Yet for all its importance, that initiative — which will affect thousands — was decided by only 447 voters, or 13 percent of those registered in Marble Falls to cast a ballot.

What gives? This is worse than apathetic. This is almost wanton neglect of the political process and an abrogation of one’s duty to vote.

So what can be done? If a race for three spots on City Council featuring 10 candidates can’t excite the electorate, what can? Indeed, there are more than 3,450 registered voters in the city, yet 77 percent of them can’t be bothered to cast a ballot.

Perhaps the focus needs to shift from convincing older voters to head to the polls and instead concentrate on young people. They are, after all, the future of the community.

Maybe schools should get involved. Certainly civics teachers offer instruction about the political process, but would it hurt if they did a little more?

Why not devise some educational strategies that get kids interested in the political system and whet their appetites for getting a voter’s card when they reach the appropriate age?

Teachers could award extra points or bump up a grade for students who attend government meetings, so they can see firsthand how the political process works. These young scholars could even get a better grade for filing a report and sharing their observations with the class.

There is no shortage of venues to choose from: city councils, planning and zoning commissions, county commissioners, economic development corporations and so on.

To a kid, this might sound like dry stuff at first, until they actually watch how government directly affects their lives.

Skatepark funding, anyone? Building more soccer fields and ball parks? Deciding whether a heavy metal rock ’n roll band can play in a city facility? This is what local government does. There’s enough going on to interest nearly any student. And those who attend should get a good grade for showing some interest in how government works.

Second, these same teachers should be allowed to hand out voter registration cards the minute their students turn the legal age to vote, which in Texas is 18.

That doesn’t mean the educator should tell them how to vote or what party to join— not by any means.

But the students should be encouraged to register, and parents should support this initiative wholeheartedly.

While it’s true that presidential elections tend to spark more interest in Burnet County, it is the municipal races that have the deepest and most immediate impact on our lives.

If adults find it too troublesome to cast a ballot, then it’s the children who must become the next voters. Schools and parents should play crucial roles to make this happen.

If the adults won’t vote, then the children should lead the way.

The Daily Tribune editorial board includes Dan Alvey, Amber Alvey Weems, Thomas Edwards, Chris Porter and Daniel Clifton.