GO FORTH AND VOTE

The colder weather got to you? Lost the old pep? Can’t get motivated? Try voting! There’s no better way to reinvigorate the democratic republic in you than to cast a vote for a worthy candidate or bond or against one that didn’t impress. Want another reason? Your neighbor, or maybe even your spouse, may have already voted and you don’t want to be left out.

Voting is simple but important. If you’re registered, you just need to show up at your local polling place. Your town office can tell you where that is if you have doubts. It couldn’t hurt to bring identification, though you shouldn’t need it. Not registered? Bring identification and head for town hall – you may be able to vote there as well. Even if there is a problem with your registration, you can still vote under Maine’s challenged-ballot law, so there’s no reason to leave a polling place without having your say.

Don’t know what the five statewide ballot questions mean? Go to the secretary of state’s Web page (www.maine.gov/sos/) for answers.

Certainly there’s enough at stake to lift you from the torpor of endless campaign commercials. The proposed racino in Washington County and local school board and council races couldn’t have escaped your notice. Don’t simply burden your friends with your opinion – make it official at your local polling place. Haven’t decided which way to go on the three bond questions? It’s not too late to work up an opinion.

If past years are any indication, growing numbers of your friends and neighbors already have voted. Last year, nearly 18 percent of votes statewide were cast by absentee ballots. In 2002, 12 percent were. Until 2000 a voter had to give a reason for wanting an absentee ballot. Now you don’t and many people are simply using them to avoid the crowds by voting early. Some communities, including Bangor where a whopping 41 percent of ballots were cast absentee in 2006, have set up polling places where voters could use absentee ballots to vote before today.

It may be confusing to first-time voters, but there are only two things to remember: Votes are counted carefully in Maine so if you cast a ballot it will matter; and there’s no reason to leave a polling place without voting, no matter what the problem. (If, by the way, you make a mistake on a ballot, you can ask for another.)

Voting. What would Election Day be without it?