ELECTIONS IN ‘ELECTION OFF-YEAR’?

The common notion about elections is that they are a free ground for politicking. Politicking in this sense would refer to politics of politicians or call it politicians’ politics. The kind of politics where slander, badmouthing, ‘pull him down – PhD’ and every other crookery means, are permissible, so long as they lead you to the race’s finish point on the first spot. These are the traits that make elections noisy – some would say worthy of the name.

But find out what a huge portion of the electorate consider to be elections – elections to them are presidential, legislative and to an extent, judiciary. When these are not happening, it is an ‘election off-year’, as they would put it. It is considered so because the ‘election off-year’ is void of loud-speaking out-door campaign trails, audience-pulling TV debates only comparable to mega entertainment content and social media posts that result in fierce political debacles.   

Curiously, but unfortunately, what the electorate does not seen to consider as elections are the race to the school boards and to an extent, the one to the councils. Little doubt that of the 876,000 registered voters in Franklin County, Ohio, only 3% of have turned out for early voting in the 2021 general elections, according to reports. Yet, the importance of education and local administration cannot be overemphasized, making school board and municipal elections the most important races. Needless to mention that education and a good one contributes to development and how a community gets stronger when its local administration is effective.

And so come Tuesday, November 2, 2021, voters in Franklin County join their counterparts in other counties, the rest of Ohio and the United States, to select the people who will run their school boards and councils. Polling kicks off at 6:30am at the Franklin County Board of Elections venue, situated at 1700 Morse Road, Columbus, Ohio. Apex 1 Radio will open its airwaves for what will be seen and heard in Ohio and perhaps, other parts of the United States.