The Missing Piece

Remember Saturday? The twenty-second of April? You may recall there was the annual surge of attention on Columbia elections. Even CA got involved with their Columbia Votes campaign.

So, what happened?

We don’t have a local radio station, or television station, or even a daily newspaper. While CA promoted the elections, they haven’t reported the results. And they may not feel that it’s their place. I have seen a few statements from individual Village Associations but overall it feels like…nothing.

Nothing happened.

Where is the one central place that Columbia residents (or any interested parties, for that matter) could look to find out the outcome of Saturday’s elections? Am I missing something?

I do know that in my own village, Oakland Mills, the deadline for mail-in ballots means that we’ll be waiting a bit longer to know the final results. And that’s fine with me if it means we have included more voters. But, if you don’t live in Oakland Mills, and you’re not obsessive about knowing everyone else’s business, how would you know that?

Voting procedures and rules vary from village to village. I guess how they are reported varies, too. I don’t necessarily mean to suggest that everything be standardized, although it might be worth discussing. I am suggesting that there be one unified way that results are reported and that telling voters must be integrated into the process.

I would like a handy-dandy protocol for what happens after the election. It should not involve searching the internet and all your social media accounts as though you have lost a contact lens.

It should not be a mystery. It should not be a secret. It should be as easy to find as the daily weather or a school lunch menu. If there actually is such a thing and I am unaware then I have just publicized my ignorance. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Why should people engage in this election process when, after the voting is over - - pffft! - - the whole thing simply disappears? After all, if it were really important, wouldn’t reporting the results be a big deal? No one should be in a position to say, “Well, I voted in that Columbia election but, I never really heard anything about it. What’s up with that?”

I don’t know why, but it appears to be a missing piece in the process.

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