People lose the right to complain when they don’t vote

My wife and I are residents of Manalapan, local District No. 7. We went to vote at around 7:40 p.m. on election night (the polls closed at 8 p.m.). While my wife was signing in, I asked one of the workers how the turnout was.

He told me that my wife and I were voter numbers 331 and 332 out of 1,033 eligible voters in the district. If you assume that 10 percent of the electorate could not vote due to illness, working late or family matters, that leaves approximately 58 percent who did not bother to vote. This is a disgrace.

As a free society, one of our most basic and fundamental rights is to vote. It does not matter if you are affiliated with a political party or an independent voter. The important issue is that you go to the polls to cast your votes for those who you believe will do the best job.

For those who would not vote, please do not complain. If your property taxes are too high, if your auto insurance premiums are too high, if your local elected officials are not acting in an ethical manner or if constant and never-ending building is going on in your town, remember that you had a chance to make a difference on Nov. 4. You lost an opportunity to elect people who may be able to make things better.

I have heard on several occasions from people that I know who usually do not vote, "What can one vote do? How can it make a difference?"

From what I have heard and read, some of the elections were extremely close. I heard on the radio that one assembly district was decided by less than 20 votes. Your vote always matters.

With the presidential election season coming up, it is important for all of us to express our opinions, pay attention to the critical issues of the day and to vote on Election Day.

David Nathanson

Manalapan