Sometimes, I say things others find hilariously funny. They laugh and carry on, but not because I tried to be funny. My statement was sincere and in earnest.

Like the first time I asked my future wife out on a date. I wasn’t joking. I really wanted to take her to dinner. But that didn’t stop her from laughing in response. She calls it a nervous giggle, but all I know is I heard “ha, ha, ha” come out of her mouth.

The same thing happened the other day (not including my wife laughing at, not with me, which is a daily occurrence). This time the earnest, sincere statement/question was “do you think we have a chance at a 20 percent voter turnout?”

Cue the “ha, ha, ha” again followed by something along the lines of “are you dreaming?”

Now, this fit of laughter wasn’t from a nervous woman but a Lincoln County election official with years of experience and knowledge.

Let’s put this in perspective: 20 percent is a pretty small number. That means for every registered voter (not person) who did vote, four didn’t.

That’s a lot of didn’ts.

But still, that qualifies for “dreaming.” Crazy talk. Like the Cardinals making the playoffs this year.

20 percent? Inconceivable!

And how sad is that? Troy, Winfield, Elsberry, Moscow Mills, Old Monroe and now with a write-in candidate for the mayor’s race in Silex, all have contested city races.

Then you have the ballot issues. Moscow Mills has a use tax and a change to the mayor’s terms. Winfield fire district has a property tax increase to fund a full-time department. Troy has an $80 million bond issue that will extend the debt service levy to 2057. And the entire county gets to vote on a half-cent sales tax that will generate $4 million a year for the sheriff’s department.

And yet, despite the presence of multiple contested races and literally hundreds of millions of dollars in tax proposals, its crazy to hope for one in five to vote.

That’s just pathetic.

Beyond the impact and thus importance of local aldermen in everyone’s day-to-day lives, these ballot issues are extremely important. An $80 million school bond issue and a sales tax that generates at least $4 million a year … forever … are important measures that should be decided upon by the entirety of the community, not a select few.

But apparently, 85 percent of us can’t be bothered to go spend five minutes deciding the future of our home.

Once a year, church pews around the nation fill and attendance soars thanks to Christmas Christians. They show up once a year and go into a religious hibernation the other 51 weeks, occasionally popping their heads out like groundhogs for a quick look around Easter.

Regrettably, the same level of dedication has infected our elections as well, except to a greater extent. America, the country that likes to claim it’s the greatest in the world because of our democratic freedoms, is being ruined by presidential voters who appear once every four years.

Don’t be a presidential voter. Spend five-10 minutes needed Tuesday if you’re really interested in making America great again.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Lincoln County Journal, Troy Free Press and Elsberry Democrat. He doesn’t mind being laughed at, and if you contact him by email at gorear@cherryroad.com and ask for a knock-knock joke, he’ll tell you a great one.