You might not be from Muncie, and you might not care to live here after graduation. But for now, this is your community, and you should get out and vote if you can.
Muncie might not be your home, but it is where you live nine months out of the year. It's where you live when the potholes make your teeth chatter as you drive down the road. It's where you live when houses down the street are left abandoned. It's where you live when there is crime in your neighborhood and not enough funding for proper police patrolling.
You can have a say in improving the community. We don't care whether you vote for the incumbent candidate, who promises to build from her experience and the lessons she's learned, or if you side with the state representative and former city firefighter.
We just want our voices to be heard. We know voter turnout is expected to be very low, especially among the student population. But we're educated citizens, and we're not lazy. We can make a difference, and now is a great time to show it.
Based on the last municipal election, even a handful of votes could make all the difference.
This time four years ago, Mayor Sharon McShurley lost the election by just 11 votes, but then after a recount she won by 13. That's probably more than the number of people standing in front of you in the line for Chick-fil-A. And in the time it takes to grab that sandwich, you could be casting a vote that makes all the difference.
We saw the impact that young voters had on electing President Barack Obama. That enthusiasm waned during the state-level races last fall, and it continues to go down.
We're glad to see College Republicans and University Democrats encouraging students to vote. The question now is whether students will actually make it out to the polls.
We don't care who you vote for. Both candidates have qualities we admire. They both promise to grow the local economy and bring new businesses. Muncie badly needs these things. Maybe with a stronger economy, more students would be willing to stay and raise their families in this town.
If that isn't you, well, you'll be here for the next few months, so you might as well make the best of it. Let's have a say in who's running our home away from home.
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