Only about 6% of Sanbornton voters will show up for Town Meeting

To The Daily Sun,

The Tuesday, March 12 Sanbornton town ballot has Question 1: a proposal to adopt RSA 40:13 (aka SB-2), allowing all registered voters a ballot vote for all town issues, WITHOUT attending mandatory town meetings. Town Meeting provides a debate venue for town budgets/issues, with VERY public voice/hand votes taken at the meeting. But out of 2,500 registered Sanbornton voters, only about 150 attend the meeting.

Criticized as "apathetic", excuses for missing meetings — like having to work, or disabilities preventing long, painful sitting/standing, or no child care, are scoffed. Penalty for absence? Abdicate your right to vote! Yes, those not attending don't get to vote, but still fund those decisions made by 150 people, through payment of annual taxes. Them’s the rules — deal With It!

SB-2 has BOTH deliberative and voting sessions, but naysayers believe sessions would be poorly attended and folks will vote uninformed. With SB-2, folks can research/formulate their own decisions and discuss them at the deliberative session. SB-2s' delay between session and election provides weeks to digest/consider issues; and there's no need to rush/feel pressured to vote a certain way — there's a 12-hour voting window and votes are NOT made public!

SB-2 heralds the end of the Town Meeting; a centuries old event which combines town budget issues with socializing. But the latest project up for vote kinda ruins the nostalgia; There's nothing old-timey about a $5,000,000+ construction project. And there are many opportunities to socialize within our community throughout the year!

If attendance runs similar to last year, only 6 percent of residents (a staggering minority), will be permitted to vote on important, costly issues impacting everyone who lives here.

Since only attendees are “allowed” to vote on these issues, this represents a form of voter suppression, placing conditions on voting rights and silencing the voice of potentially 94 percent of the towns’ voting population. With the SB-2 ballot vote, everyone will be able to vote UNCONDITIONALLY!

Folks will tell us how SB-2 has been on the ballot many, many times, but never gets enough votes to pass. The last attempt came VERY close (59.1 percent out of 60 percent), so perhaps resistance isn’t really futile…These times, they are a’changin’! SB-2 is on the ballot and 60 percent of the vote will allow it to pass. If the majority of voters don't vote for SB-2, it won't get in — if they do, it will. It's truly how the Democratic process works!.

Voting for issues which will impact us, without having to attend a mandatory meeting, is our right! Support the UNCONDITIONAL right to vote on all Sanbornton issues — vote YES on Question One (RSA 40:13 SB2) — on Tuesday, March 12.

T.K. Whalen

Sanbornton