Aug. 21 was your last chance to register to vote in the Primary Election, which will take place this Saturday, Sept. 20. If you didn’t register, the primary selection process will happen without you, and candidates you had decided to vote for in November may be eliminated Saturday. Go ahead, blame yourself. Maui elections have been won and lost by margins so slim that a single household deciding to go to the polls instead of watching a TV show would have changed the results.
No vote, no grumble.
By the way, if you did register, and you’re worried that the post Aloha Friday meltdown is going to keep you from voting on Saturday, get moving. Walk-in “absentee” voting at on the seventh floor of Kalana O Maui, the county building, ends at 4 p.m. today, Sept. 18. Bring a photo ID.
If you missed the Primary Election, get registered for the November General Election right now. The last possible moment is the close of business at the Elections Office in the Office of the County Clerk on Monday, Oct. 6.
I’m not going to harp about this any more. If you have to be dragged to the polls kicking and screaming aloud that you had something more fun to do, stay home. It’s OK.
Who should you vote for?
People keep asking me who to vote for, especially in terms of the Maui County Council. Unless I have personally been in your checkbook and listened to the values discussions at your dinner table, spent nights in your living room and mornings at the water cooler with you, I cannot possibly tell you who to vote for. So, really, stop asking. Well, no. Don’t stop asking. Just stop asking me. Instead, ask the people who are very close to you, the people most like you and most likely to have the same needs, values and hopes that you have.
And, really, don’t ask them who to vote for. Here’s how that conversation should go. Suppose someone close says she’s planning to vote for Eggbert Valispucci (no, it’s not a real council candidate name). Don’t say either, “Me, too,” or “I can’t believe you’re that stupid,” both of which will end the actual conversation. Instead, try saying, “I don’t know enough about Valispucci. Tell me about him and what you expect of him.” Then shut up. No matter what is said, no matter how you feel about it, say nothing more than, “Thank you for that. It gives me something to think about.”
If, during the conversation, you hear something that might make you vote for Valispucci, take time to consider it. If not, at least you’ve given someone a chance to speak her piece, and possibly earned her respect along the way.
In the event that you want to say something positive about an alternative candidate or something negative about Valispucci, wait at least 24 hours before bringing it up. Chances are, your friend will now listen to your views, having noticed that you are a person willing to listen to her views.
This is called “ear initiated communication.” You are, in effect, saying, “My ears are open.” When you want to say something, you request, diplomatically, that your potential listener assure you that his or her ears are open. Try it. You’ll like it.
How do you know all this stuff?
I know what I know by a number of means. First, I’m old. I’ve seen all the good and bad, meaningful and meaningless stuff politicians say and do, over and over, and I’ve lived (with my eyes open) to see who really does what under what circumstances. More immediately, and more specifically, I use all the same resources you could use for yourself. They are friends and neighbors, the World Wide Web, the Maui County Office of Elections and the State Office of Elections, the news media (obsessively so!) and then I check any and all sources against any and all other sources.
You could do this, too. In fact, you could possibly do more than I can do this year. How’s that? Well, because I am writing about the election, I am being very careful not to attend even a coffee hour sponsored by or for any candidate. If I did, I’d feel compelled to find one for each of that candidate’s opponents and attend those as well. You, on the other hand, are not required to maintain the appearance of fairness. Also, since I am working a day job while I do my writing, I don’t have a lot of free time to go to candidate forums. Probably you or someone from your household can get to some of them. If, like me, you’re in a time crunch, at least catch the ones that make it to Akaku Community Television.
In the end, you’re on your own. Make the most of it.