EDITORIAL: Voters’ message is clear: It’s time for change

Posted 11/15/16

That division ultimately produced two candidates whom a significant percentage of voters on both sides of the political spectrum found it difficult or impossible to support. Many said they planned to vote against the candidate they disliked the most …

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EDITORIAL: Voters’ message is clear: It’s time for change

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The 2016 election is one week behind us today.

The years-long pre-election buildup to this election was certainly one of the most divisive, and perhaps the most divisive, in the United States’ 240-year history of representative democracy.

That division ultimately produced two candidates whom a significant percentage of voters on both sides of the political spectrum found it difficult or impossible to support. Many said they planned to vote against the candidate they disliked the most rather than supporting a candidate of their choice. 

Meanwhile, too many mainstream and online media pundits fell in line behind their chosen candidates on a virtual battleground drawn along political lines. Rather than filling their journalistic responsibilities of informing the public, their goal, too often, appeared to be tearing down the opposition in any way possible.

Is it any wonder so many voters felt disenfranchised?

Some say that was the reason more voters chose third-party candidates this year, and that could have affected the outcome of the election.

If the bulk of third-party voters in some of the closest state contests — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida — had voted for Clinton, she could have defeated Trump, according to The Associated Press.

But the point is, they didn’t. They chose third-party candidates because they felt they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, vote for either Trump or Clinton.

Wyoming was no exception to that trend.

In Wyoming, 13,282 people voted for Gary Johnson; 2,482 voted for Jill Stein, 2,042 voted for Darrell Castle and 709 voted for “Rocky” De La Fuente. Another 6,896 Wyoming residents voted for write-ins, and 2,660 didn’t cast votes in the presidential race.

That totals 27,436 people, or 10 percent of Wyoming residents who cast votes in last week’s election, who chose to vote for neither Trump nor Clinton.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time our country has been starkly divided along political lines. Rather, it’s the latest in a series of divisive elections, which then have been followed by years of equally divided, ineffective sessions in Congress.

If Trump’s election tells us anything, it’s that it clearly is time for change, and that needs to take place on all levels. 

Our representative democracy is intended to be government for the people by the people. But these days it seems only the elite are able to make serious campaigns for the presidency. We believe reasonable campaign spending limits, both for candidates and their supporters, would be one way to address that problem.

We realize change is difficult, and it’s often resisted. That’s why it has to start with us. We must hold our elected officials — from the president on down — responsible for acting in the best interest of our country, our state, our county and our community. But the way to do that is through our votes and courteous discussion and debate — not by being disrespectful to our leaders or to other citizens.

(Editor's note: This version corrects the total votes received by De La Fuente.)

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