Susitna - On that health care reform bill "that will officially announce to all the world that the US is now a socialist country"...

- the story was there. It was under "National News", which is located at the bottom of the "home page" of the online version of the DNM; an updated story appears there as of tonight

- the legislation only passed the House; the Senate has yet to vote on it

- "the rest of the world" wonders what took us so long to provide our own citizens with a some kind of health care safety net like every other industrialized nation in the world

- no one is going to force you to buy your insurance policy from the government - it's a choice you will make. You either buy your own, get insurance through your work, or you buy a government policy. YOU CHOOSE.

Don't fear what you don't understand. Information is a good thing.

allhaileris,

If I didn't know what the two reps stood on different issues, how would I have voted with conscience? Based off of some soundbite tv commercial or newspaper ad? Or maybe based on them having an R or D by their name? No, I prefer to vote for a person's views and not a single issue or party affiliation.

Kuddos to the FDNM for putting articles up and interviews, I simply did not take the time to read them. Ergo, I decided to stay in for the election (and was sick for the initial one)

saywhat64, I have to disagree about it being hard for the average citizen to get involved. The burrough assembly meetings are open to the public, every other Thursday evening. They have other meetings that are open too. It takes a willingness to get involved.

This is a nation wide problem. Yesterday the US House of Representatives PASSED the "Affordable Health Care for America" Plan, you know the one, 2000 pages of rules and regulations that will officially announce to all the world that the US is now a socialist country, and no one cared, not the News Miner, who didn't even announce it today! Why would we think our citizens would get out to vote to defend their freedom!!!

It's very hard for the average person to get involved in any government at any level. There is plenty of reason that it's tough to even get someone to run for any office. What is the incentive to want your life trashed in the public media?

Doesn't it bother anyone that a candidate running for office, makes application to fill a vacancy at State level before the tally is even in! That looks like politicians seek positions only for personal gain and really care less about working for the betterment of their community. It really is hard for voters to believe what the mouth is saying when they can't tell what the brain is thinking!

Meetings, as a whole, are so formal in the strict adherence to Roberts Rules of Order, that public participation is heavily discouraged. The agendas are very often overloaded and perhaps that is by design to further discourage public input. Often, over half of the agenda is tabled or postponed definitely and even indefinitely. Meetings are anything but friendly!

All of that said, I do agree that every citizen should attempt a pretense of actually being one!

If you don't vote you lose the right to bitch. It's really quite simple. If we want to get, we should be willing to give.

I'm okay with people not voting if they are uninformed. I'd rather have my informed vote count more. I spend time studying all the different candidates and issues on the ballot. I enjoy following this stuff. Let those liberal college bums stay home on election day if they want.

Isanova

you don't need to do all that to vote. read the news? have conviction? A basic grasp on issues and a point-of-view are all you need...well, a willingness to vary your routine on election day also helps.

I'm amazed, the final tally has not, to my knowledge, been publically announced yet Luke has placed an ad on page 5 of today's DNM thanking voters for their support and said, "Together, our hard work will build a community we will be proud of". At the bottom of the ad, in plain negative bold letters, his title is Borough Mayor. And I thought final results were traditionally announced by the election board? His last tv and radio ads stated that he would represent the community from Ester to North Pole...guess that leaves out Salcha, and I guess Fox, and Moose Creek, and probably some others......? Oh well, Salcha, Fox and Moose creek do not have to have Luke's help to build a community that we can be proud of, we are already proud of our communities!

Last year's national election was a model of getting out the vote, particularly of eligible voters that have very little stake and very little knowledge. Exit polls and interviews showed a shocking lack of knowledge about such basic information as to the structure of our government, the geography of our country, the history of the world, and where money comes from. Lots of knowledge about pop culture though, and a pop culture icon was elected president.

Now, after a year of watching the results of the '08 election, I prefer that unengaged citizens not bother going to the polls. Anybody that wants to vote should, but I don't want to encourage the uninterested and the uneducated.

As for our local election, and the apathy of local voters, how up to date are the voter rolls? Are deceased and relocated voters still counted for the overall number? I know that the total used to be hugely overstated, which in turn made the voter turnout look worse than it really was.

i'm sorry to hear that isanova. i hope things turn around for you very soon!

Wish we could have our "preview comment" option back! What I meant to say was "required to show proof of having voted" in the local and State elections before qualifying for a PFD.

If we could enact a law that required people of legal to register to vote and show proof of having to vote before they qualified for a PFD check, that would certainly increase participation!

Head of household didn't vote? Kids don't qualify either!

There are countries that exercise the democratic process and fine people when they go to renew a drivers license or whatever interaction brings them to a government body (socialist country so that is just about everything including the mail). The fines are not that much but they do fine them. I think it was ten dollars for missing the last election.

I voted, and so did ten of my kids and two of my husbands, so I don't understand how Tammie could have lost!

I also want to note that I didn't vote, but normally I do. This year I was rather sick and am facing homelessness/joblessness, and didn't really have time to find out any of the candidate's positions on issues. I don't trust commercial soundbites.

I think it's a truth of the democratic process that only a few take any interest or activity in governance. It's also rather complex and, for the average person, quite boring. Why would I want to listen in/sit in on a talk about air quality statistics or traffic patterns? People only care about the end-result decisions and not the work that goes into making them. I bet if you go back through the past 100 years of fairbanksian history you'll find turnout more or less comparable. Probably a few more given the smaller size and less entertainment options, but not by huge numbers.

Who wants to go to endless committee meetings when the latest entertainews is on? or the latest Xbox game?

I apply the same to myself. I might be more involved if it were more open process I understood and if I had my life more together, but a lot of the issues I wouldn't want to be involved in.