The Simpsonian Oct.

. 24, 2013 One of the worst myths I hear when students are asked if they are registered to vote is Its not campaign season. We have a couple years. Yes, Hillary Clinton is not yet campaigning to become president but Jill Johnson, Simpson's Director of Marketing and Public Relations, is running for mayor. The average constituent does not realize but it is always voting season. Our founding fathers wrote into our constitution to vote at every level of our government because it was important for the public to influence the government and choose our leaders compared to having a King rule. We have become a superpower on this idea; we should not fail them now. Our intelligent founders created a system set up for constituents to be able to focus on different parts of the government yearly. There are national elections, state and local elections. Over the years, the most common and interesting races are the presidential and national races such as senate and representative races. The common races like mayor and city council are not given a second thought. Most students dont even know who their mayor or city council members are. In my hometown, city council races are won by the number of yard signs that are out. It saddens me the lack of interest students have on their local elected representatives and the lack of interest to run. When I asked why Kent Sorenson (past Indianola state senator) ran for state senate, he said no one else wanted to, so I did it. If no one cares on who is running and why, why do we care to complain about our government? If we only care about our President and congress then why do we value our right to vote? We are missing most of our government. The irony is that our local and state officials influence our lives every day. The roads we drive on in Indianola, Indianola city council. Number of schools and teachers taught at our local schools? District elections. These are all elections that happen at our local level and influence us every day. The focus on elections should be reversed; we all should be more interested in the mayor and city council race happening in a couple of weeks than the presidential race happening in three years. It saddens me to say the number of people who vote for mayor can sometimes be counted by a two year old. Depending on the place, a couple hundred turn out. In Indianola, it is equal to one Simpson class. The truth is, if every Simpson student voted, they would outvote the average number of voters in Indianola and could flip the race. My point is not to tell each one of you to vote in every election for the rest of your life but as we grow older, recognize the importance of civic engagement in your communities and be well- informed and vote in the elections that will change your life. Make a difference at every level of your government, not just the national because if you want your children to have a better education, do not look to the department of education but look to your districts school board or state boards of education. Chances are likely, they can give you some answers.