Does our election system work?
While you may be dismayed by what politicians do once they get in office, we hope you never doubt the process that gets them there.
There is a lot of talk about revamping election laws in this country. Our system of government is designed to change.
But what has prompted these changes? The answer is crooked politicians and people who have figured out loopholes in the system and have no problem with committing election fraud.
Clarksdale residents head to the polls Tuesday to choose their city leaders. They will pick up a ballot and then quietly step to a voting booth where they will mark their ballot.
While many things go on before that moment, and things may not be perfect on Election Day, we hope your faith in the system never waivers.
We may never have clean campaigns around here, but we must have clean elections.
Your City Clerk is are charged with implementing local elections and she works with a long list of precinct judges, polling workers and party officials that run the nuts and bolts of local elections.
The clerk also watches over party primaries that are run by their respective party, but that process, those political machines and their shenanigans will be an editorial for another day.
With thousands of votes cast every time we vote, your Clarksdale Press Register is not so naïve as to believe every ballot will be marked correctly and everybody votes in the right place. Please remember we have elected officials who don’t live in the right place!
But we must trust and believe our neighbors and friends – those who man local precincts in our neighborhoods – will run a clean ship.
All politics is local and all good government springs from elections run by good, honest and trustworthy local people.
Many who vote Tuesday won’t see their candidate win and we hope they don’t just allege corruption and sour on the system that makes this country and this community great.
If you have legitimate concerns about how a ballot is ever handled we encourage you to contact our City Clerk (662-621-8136). If you have facts and information about larger problems please contact the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Election Hotline (1-800-829-6786).
Tampering with the election process is a serious crime and one that rightly deserves the felony charges, stiff fines and jail terms demanded from those who violate it.
Only the holiness of a church service or the graveness of court in session out-weighs the sanctity of the voting booth.
We hope the people of Clarksdale always stand vigilant and ready to preserve the purity of local elections.
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