I read a sobering Portland State University study several years ago which found that voter turnout in 10 of America’s 30 largest cities was less than 15%. According to a National Civic League spring 2020 article by Jan Brennan, there is a persistent pattern of low participation in local elections. Across the U.S., only 15% to 27% of eligible voters cast a ballot in their local election. This low voter turnout has a profound effect on the daily life of communities, impacting everything from schools and housing to transportation, police, and parks.

On June 7, we have an opportunity to reverse the trend of low voter turnout and make our voices heard on several state and local races and measures. Although this is a non-presidential election year, your vote matters. I strongly encourage every Humboldt County resident legally eligible to vote to exercise that right. If more people participate in local elections, local officials will be held truly accountable to their constituents.

Your vote has consequences for you, your family, and your communities. A low voter turnout in Humboldt County could mean that important state and local issues on the June 7 ballot will be determined by a limited group of community members, which is, essentially, minority rule, and not what our forefathers intended.

Your vote will help decide who serves as California’s Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the California Senator and Assemblymember for our district. These positions have a tremendous impact on the direction California takes in the future. Don’t you want to have a say in that? For more information on state-wide candidates, google “California Voter Information Guide.”

On the local level, by voting you can make your voice heard about who should sit as a Humboldt County Superior Court judge, who should represent District 4 on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, and who should serve as Humboldt’s Assessor, District Attorney, Auditor-Controller, Clerk-Recorder, Sheriff-Coroner or Treasurer-Tax Collector. If you don’t know what all of these people do, or why you should care, your local papers are doing a good job of answering these questions before Election Day.

If that wasn’t reason enough to vote, consider that your vote can determine the fate of Measure J — a measure that would increase the total hotel tax rate in Humboldt County from 10% to 12% and add overnight recreational vehicle parks and private campgrounds. Or Measure K, which authorizes an additional $1 vehicle registration fee or $2 for some commercial vehicles to fund the removal and disposal of locally abandoned vehicles. Both of these measures have potential implications for every Humboldt County resident.

As a veteran of the armed forces and the president of an institution of higher education, I encourage you to participate in the democratic process. Many of our fellow citizens gave their very lives for moments like Tuesday, June 7. Participating in elections is one of the key freedoms of American life. Many people in countries around the world do not have the same freedom, nor did many Americans in centuries past. No matter what you believe or whom you support, it is important to exercise your right.

Whatever happens on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, I want to remind everyone that voting is at the very core of democracy and is laid out in the Declaration of Independence as the fabric of our nation:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men (and Women), deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

— Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence