In past issues of The Newtown Bee, when absentee and early voting was a bit less of a thing, the tradition of an editorial urging folks to get out and vote would have been aimed at all the residents of town, who would all be voting on Election Day (which this year is Tuesday, November 4). But when you come right down to it, most folks who vote do so every year as their patriotic duty and responsibility to participate in our democratic process. The people this editorial needs to reach are usually the sorts of folks wrapped up in their daily lives, who are not paying attention to most politics, never mind local politics, and might vote in presidential election years but might pass on the local election years. They might not even be reading this editorial.

Compare the turnout last year, the 2024 presidential election, where 84.6% of Newtowners cast a ballot, to 2023, the last local election, which only saw a turnout of 40.5%. That’s a drop of 44.6% of the town, or roughly 7,500 residents who didn’t see Newtown’s local elections as important enough to participate in compared to the federal and state elections. That’s ignoring the other 15.4% who decided to not cast a vote in either.

As said before in this space, local elections may not be as exciting as presidential elections, but they generally have more of a day-to-day impact on the life of the average Newtown resident. Local tax rates on homes and vehicles are decided by local officials, local officials make decisions on new proposed commercial and residential developments that could be next door or nearby to your own home, local officials decide on what services are available in town and how much road paving gets done through the budgetary process, who gets hired to head local departments, and a vast web of other duties that permeate the life of everyone in Newtown.

This year’s election marks the 50th anniversary of the vote for the first Legislative Council, which today handles the policy making decisions as well as the final fiscal decisions in town. According to the front page of the Friday, October 31 issue of The Bee, 8,364 voters were eligible to cast a vote in that election, which included 36 candidates for 18 Legislative Council seats. This year, there are 19 candidates vying for 12 seats, four per district each of Newtown’s three voting districts.

Voters will also decide on first selectman and the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, Board of Education, Planning & Zoning, Town Clerk, Police Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Board of Assessment Appeals, and Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers. All are important cogs in the municipal machine of Newtown, and all will have a direct impact on day-to-day life in this town.

This year the editorial is aimed at those readers who may know of someone who is not planning on voting: please urge them to go vote. All elections are important, and all opportunities to participate in our democratic process are the civic responsibility of all Newtowners and all Americans. Get out and vote and please, get others to get out and vote as well. Let’s beat that 40.5% turnout mark this year.

Opportunities to vote are early voting from 10 am to 6 pm Friday, October 31, Saturday, November 1, and Sunday, November 2; as well as Election Day, Tuesday, November 4, when polls will be open from 6 am to 8 pm at polling locations at Newtown Middle School, Newtown High School, and Reed Intermediate School.