More people want me to vote today. The county of Los Angeles has been emailing more than usual. So has the League of Women Voters, and my own city.
But it’s not clear whether voting will be worth it today.
It’s an off-year election, and so there is not much on the ballot. Two local school board seats are up, and there are three candidates total. All seem pretty reasonable. And it’s a local school board in California – with little power over funding or curriculum. The big school decisions get made in Sacramento –or have already been made by voters.
There’s also a parcel tax for our small city’s library. It’s a nice library, and it’s likely to pass. I’d be happy to vote for it, but the library isn’t why I live here. It’s the schools—I’d make a point to show up for a small election on a school parcel tax, as I did a couple years back.
Tuesday is a busy day. I have to be on the road to work well before the polls open, and it’s not clear if I’ll be home by the time the polls close. I was traveling in October, and didn’t request an absentee ballot. I might have voted if I could do so on the Internet late at night – I’m writing this after 9pm – but I can’t. I might have voted if I could have done so this past weekend, but I didn’t have that option.
So I probably skip this small election. And I won’t feel bad about it.