Today is Election Day — Get Out and Vote!

Polls are open from 6 a.m. – 7 p.m. today!

Written by John Biver

Back on March 1st the Illinois Family Action held a staff meeting and before getting to the business of the day, executive director Dave Smith asked me if I heard that Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s choice for Mayor of Aurora had lost the previous day.

That’s when I remembered that February 28, 2017 was Consolidated Primary Election day.

I forgot to vote!

I live in the city of Aurora, yet I hear about my local election results from someone who lives about 50 miles away. To say the least, I was not happy with myself. I had looked forward to casting my vote for one of the candidates I have known for over twenty years. It was going to be my first vote in a mayoral primary in my newly adopted home town.

My colleagues justifiably gave me heck. “Yea, Mr. ‘Get Out The Vote’ fails to vote!” (I helped Illinois Family Action with a project just last fall encouraging vote by mail.)

We all have heard it so often but it bears repeating — when voter turnout is as low as it is in local elections, our votes carry so much more weight. This isn’t a presidential or even statewide race where millions of ballots are cast. The vote tallies are sometimes shockingly small. That makes your vote — and the vote of like-minded family and friends all the more important.

IFA has brought attention to a handful of worthy candidates over the past months — here are a few:

>>Running for the U-46 school board: Cody Holt and Enoch Essendrop.

>>Running for High School District 211 school board: Ralph Bonatz, Katherine David, and Jean Forrest.

>>Running for the Indian Prairie School District 204 school board: Renata Sliva.

Radio talk show host Joe Walsh, a friend of Illinois Family Action, has listed more candidates at his website WalshFreedom.com. Joe only endorses genuine fiscal conservatives, so you might consider checking out this page at his site.

Just fyi — For today’s election, it’s sad but true — I left several strategically placed 3 x 5 index cards around my house reminding me to vote.

Don’t forget to vote! Encourage like-minded friends and family members to vote as well.

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone,

and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

~ President Abraham Lincoln

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