The Florida Presidential Primary election is over, but voters have more decisions to make in this year’s important electoral cycle.
Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho certainly isn’t the first person to say this year’s election is a very big deal.
“We see the 2016 election cycle as an unprecedented opportunity for citizens to really direct the future of, not only the nation and state, but of the community,” he remarked before the March 15 primary.
Sancho added, while so much public and media attention has justifiably focused on the presidential contest, there are other very important decisions facing voters in the next two rounds of ballot casting.
“People have to understand that 90% of all government services are not provided by the federal government, are not provided by the state, they’re provided by local government officials.”
Sancho explained the number of local government offices up for grabs in this election is nearly unprecedented. “County commissioners, supervisor of elections, clerk of the court, the sheriff, these are local officials that provide the bulk of the services for our citizenry, but oftentimes we don’t pay attention.”
And, with so much anger, fear and frustration driving the electorate on the national races, Sancho hoped voters’ better angels will prevail, at least when it comes to those political contests closer to home.
“And as our founders warned us at the very beginning of this republic, we ought to let reason triumph; not emotion. So much of our politics nowadays seem to be focused on emotion. I’m sorry, but reason is what makes this country work,” he insisted.
Voters will have two more chances to exercise their rational judgment. The first opportunity is the August 30. The second is the general election on November 8.
