By Senator Brent Hill

A lot of strange and funny things must have happened to people on their way to vote because hardly anybody showed up. Here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, almost half of our citizens fail to vote.

So why have we, the very authors of the democratic process, so easily abdicated our right to choose our leaders? The excuses I hear are limited only by the imagination, but here are some of the most common:

All the candidates are the same, so why bother voting?

Although the rhetoric sounds all too similar, there really are key differences between candidates. It is worth the time it takes to discover those differences when you realize that those elected will have an enormous impact on your children’s future—not just for the next four years, but for 40 years and beyond. Laws passed, judges appointed and policies established will affect our way of life for generations yet unborn.

It’s such a hassle getting to the polls.

Sometimes physical handicaps, age, illness, being out of town, fear of long lines, or laziness can make getting to the polls on election day difficult or even impossible. Idaho has a great solution: Vote absentee. You can vote any day up to a month before the elections at the county clerk’s office. Or request an absentee ballot from the county and they’ll mail you a ballot that you can fill out and mail back. What could be easier? Even a couch potato can handle that!

I don’t know the candidates or where they stand on the issues.

It is our duty as American citizens to pay attention to what’s going on and determine which candidates will best represent our interests. There are many sources for this information from newspapers to public forums. You may want to review the backgrounds and information about federal and local candidates and issues at Project Vote Smart, a non-partisan, non-profit Web site (www.vote-smart.org). The site also explains voter eligibility requirements, registration options and how to vote by absentee ballot.

Lawmakers only listen to special interest groups, not people like me.

Lawmakers do care about you and your concerns. Most of them made significant sacrifices to represent your interests in government. However, when a large number of our citizens do not make the effort to evaluate the candidates and issues and vote, the government is vulnerable to the special interests that pour time and money into influencing the political process for their own purposes. The extreme partisans always go to the polls, and if the rest of us don’t vote, we allow them free rein.

My vote doesn’t really make a difference.

Your vote counts as much as anyone else’s. The ballot does not record your race, gender, social status or age. Every vote carries equal weight. The word democracy literally means rule by the people (from the Greek demos, “people,” and kratos, “rule”). If you care about education and jobs; if you’re concerned about the war in Iraq and hate crimes at home; if you’re tired of high taxes and deficit spending; if you’re interested in preserving your freedom, defending the Constitution and providing a better future for your children, you owe it to yourself and your country to vote.