NCoC: Civic Health: Win or Lose, Get Involved

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Civic Health: Win or Lose, Get Involved

November 7, 2008

Get involved in your neighborhood association. Volunteer for a good cause. Be a diligent consumer of the news and keep up with current affairs.

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Maybe your candidates won, maybe not. But you did your part. And perhaps in unprecedented numbers. Some 4.3 million Floridians voted early or absentee. Statewide, 8.2 million of the state's 11.2 million registered voters went to the polls. That represented a statewide turnout of 72.9 percent.

Polk County did better than the state average. In Polk County, nearly 246,000 of the 332,000 registered voters - 74 percent - cast ballots.

Florida's turnout wasn't bad for a state that, in a recent study, ranked 47th in the nation in "civic health." Conducted jointly by the National Conference on Citizenship and the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, the study ranked Floridians fairly low for average voter turnout, community involvement, attending public meetings and volunteerism.

The excitement of this year's presidential election shook Floridians out of their complacency. But what will we do now? Having become so passionately engaged, this is no time to walk away.

MAKE DIFFERENCE LOCALLY

Keep an eye on what your city and county commissioners are doing. Oddly, voters who went to the polls and voted for president walked away from local County Commission races.

In the District 3 race won by Ed Smith, for instance, 245,166 votes were cast for president - but there were 21,600 fewer votes recorded in the commission race. Because margin of victory was just 1,549 votes, those uncast ballots could have made a difference in the outcome.

Joining local political parties is one way to get involved on a year-round basis. If you don't want to be aligned with a particular party, consider the League of Women Voters of Polk County (www.lwvpolk.org, P.O. Box 934, Lakeland, FL 33802, phone: 863-683-2328).

Let your state representatives and Congress members know what you're thinking about the issues of the day. Volunteering to serve on city or county advisory boards is another way to become engaged. Contact City Hall or the Polk County Administration Building in Bartow for more information.

Get involved in your neighborhood association. Volunteer for a good cause. Be a diligent consumer of the news and keep up with current affairs.

Voting once every four years is hardly a commitment to civic engagement.

Don't stop now, Florida. Stay involved.

This story appeared in print on page A14

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