Voter turnout: Shame on you, Illinois!

No matter what political party you support, we can all agree that both Illinois and America are facing a severe crisis that can cause tremendous harm to our state and our nation. Yet the vast majority of Illinois voters abandoned their civic duty at a time of crisis and did not vote in this primary.

Illinois is bankrupt with the worst credit rating of any state in America, has the second worst unemployment of any state, and political corruption is rampant. America is $17.5 trillion in debt and suffering under the worst economic "recovery" since World War II.

March 18 was a critical time for all citizens to do their civic duty and vote in the primary so that our state and nation can fix these problems with politicians that the people select. Yet a record number of Illinois voters did not vote with only 13.9 percent voting in Lake County and 15.7 percent voting in Cook County.

Final numbers for the state are not in, but projections are for the lowest voter participation rate on record - below 20 percent.

Shame on those Illinois citizens that abandoned their state, nation and children's future out of laziness, apathy and/or narcissism. We have all heard people say that "I am just too busy to vote" or "I am frustrated." Tell that to our ancestors that worked 12 hours a day in the fields and walked to town to vote or our ancestors who suffered in war to protect our nation but still voted.

John Adams famously said, "There has not been a democracy yet that has not committed suicide." Voter apathy, laziness and narcissism are how that suicide happens. As Pericles said, "Those citizens who do not pay attention to politics have no right to live in Athens."

Or Illinois!

Randy Rossi

Grayslake