By Robert J. Tinsky, Oblong, Illinois

THANKS to Bob Tinsky of Oblong, Illinois, for providing the real reasons to "go vote". Unfortunately, the lack of participation in the voting system is evidence of apathy and shallow concepts of what America is all about. The existence of angst in any election seems to be a contrived concept to play down the importance of voting. In other words, if you get enough people discouraged or depressed sufficiently about issues in general, a covert movement might be seen "in the works" and thus benefiting surreptitiously from smaller crowds at the polls. I appreciate the personal testimony of my friend in Illinois and hope his essay is an encouragement and challenge for all who read THE WORDWRIGHT and accept the responsibility and recognize the privilege we have in the United States of America. BILL VENRICK 

            We Americans enjoy a privilege that is denied to millions of people in our world.  I am talking about the privilege that we have to vote and choose who will be our leaders.  It saddens me to know that almost half of the citizens of our great nation do not take the time to go to the poll and cast their vote.
 
            Several years ago I was in the small country of Guyana, South America when they had their first free election.  Guyana received its independence from Great Britain in 1966.  It was ruled by one party for 28 years before that government agreed to allow the citizens the privilege of voting.  I remember seeing the long lines of people who came to cast their vote.  Some of these people waited for several hours to exercise their franchise. 
 
            Some of those who waited for hours to vote were turned away because those in charge told them that they were not properly registered.  I remember very vividly hearing on the radio the sound of stones being thrown on the roof of the voting booth as those who were denied the right to vote endeavored to relieve their frustration.  I also recall hearing the reporter who was inside the polling station telling his audience that he was broadcasting underneath a table to protect himself from the rocks being thrown at the building.  Those people wanted to vote.  They wanted to have a say regarding who was to lead their fledgling nation.  
 
            Before the day was over mass riots broke out in the nation's capitol because people felt they were being denied the privilege of voting.  It was an awesome and somewhat frightening experience to witness the military airplanes flying overhead and the army vehicles loaded with armed soldiers drive pass our hotel prepared to use any means necessary to quell the riots. 
 
            We need to be grateful that we have the privilege to vote.  Further we need to be thankful that our nation can choose its leaders by ballots rather than by bullets.  But having the right to vote does us no good if we do have take advantage of this great privilege. 
 
            Regardless of your political affiliation and your personal preference for the various candidates, I plead with you to study the issues and learn all you can about the candidates.  Then exercise your franchise by going to the poll on November 4.  Remember, there have been elections that were decided by only one vote.

BE SURE TO VOTE - THE WORDWRIGHT