Letter to the Editor: Vote totals from Tuesday election were travesty, so those who didn’t vote can zip it

It’s been 24 hours since the polls closed, so it is time to evaluate what just took place.

First, thanks to Mayor Michael Troup for taking four years out of his life to try to make our city a better place to live. Thanks to Linda Moore for wanting to do the same thing. Now she will get her chance. The commitment these two have and will be making is admirable. It is a thankless job that will never satisfy everyone, as we have seen and heard over the last few weeks.

It was a position that I was asked to run for, which after careful consideration, I decided not to do. Frankly, after what these two just went through, I am glad I didn’t.

What we need to keep in mind is the City Council actually runs the City of Quincy. The people in those 14 seats control how this city will go. With that said, it is vitally important that people vote when election time rolls around. What happened Tuesday night was a travesty. Just 20.7 percent of the registered voters actually took the time to vote (7,071 total votes). It was the lowest turnout ever.

Where were the 79.3 percent of potential voters who failed to show up or mail in a ballot? It’s pathetic. My God there is no excuse anymore for not voting. You can now mail in your ballot, you can use an absentee ballot, vote early weeks ahead or, here’s a novel idea … show up at the polls and vote that way.

For those of you in the 20.7 percent group, you can voice your opinion loud and often. You have earned that right.

The rest of you just need to zip it up. You had your chance.

Jeff Dorsey
Quincy, Illinois