Voter apathy is at root of our problems

With election season heating up, here are some things that I have witnessed over the years and reasons the same people may be elected to office time and again.

1. I'm not registered to vote because I don't want to be called for jury duty. Guess what? The state of Illinois doesn't draw from just that small pool of candidates. If you have a driver's license, you can be called for jury duty. So give up your driver's license if you don't want to sit for jury duty.

2. I don't want to sign petitions for candidates Sign petitions for crying out loud. Democrats, Republicans, independents, whatever. You can sign every candidate's petition once. Everyone deserves a chance to be on the ballot. This is how it's done. You want change, help make it happen.

3. I'm not voting in the election. My vote doesn't matter. Well, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I might be able to retire. And if everyone who has said that to me voted in every local, state, and national election, it is quite possible that we might not be in the mess we are in.

My point is, the apathy among the voting population is astounding. It makes me wonder how many of them are the ones who are whining the loudest about the problems our governments (local, state, federal) are having.

If so, they have the voting power to help make real change.

Paula Bialek

Arlington Heights