| Written by Corine Gatti-Santillo |

Voter turnout during the 2018 midterm elections was the highest since 1966. Conversely, attendance in local elections for both Republicans and Democrats continues to plummet across the nation. According to the Pew Research Center, the U.S. is “31st out of 35 countries for voter turnout based on the voting-age populace.” When it comes to mayoral elections, the numbers are more disconcerting. “Turnout in 10 of America’s 30 largest cities was less than 15 percent. In Las Vegas, Ft. Worth and Dallas, turnout was in the single digits,” Researchers at Portland State University found.

Low engagement and the lack of knowledge about civics among young people is a factor.  They, like many others, assume their votes don’t make a difference. When we don’t vote, someone else decides for you — leading to detrimental policies in communities. Voting or not voting locally impacts zoning laws, development projects, speed limits, school boards, the police department and more in our neighborhoods.

The time is imperative to vote locally.

Linda M. Wright is the founder of Hearing GOD Ministries and a grandmother of a 13-year-old in California. She urgently recognized the significance of voting for the right school-board members. She became increasingly aware of the “book policy” used in Sex ED classes by Conejo Valley Unified School District in Ventura County, Calif. To her astonishment, there was nothing within its pages deemed educational.

“These books are nothing more than soft porn. These books do not belong in our public education system nor should we as taxpayers be funding such filth.”

CVUSD removed all warnings from the books that “featured content may not be suitable for all children.” This is not about education. It’s about the pushing of the “LGBT agenda on innocent children and trying to normalize [it]. I am a Christian, but even if I wasn’t, there is only a man and a woman, and two men and two women cannot make babies.”

“I don’t care what people’s sexualities are. Please keep it to themselves in the privacy of their own home. Just like I do. Four of the CVUSD board members campaigns were funded by far-left liberals and the unions. Sandee Everett is the only board member that has clean hands. No agenda, just the protection of our children. From all of this, I came together with a group of people and we formed a non-profit group to bring this awareness to the surrounding cities and counties and Sacramento.”

This is just an example of how powerful local voting is for believers. There is only one person on the CVSD schoolboard working to counteract propaganda being supplied to kids against the will of parents. Proverbs 22:6 instructs parents to train up a child in the way he should go,” not the state or our culture.

The media focuses on national elections. However, when the government is vulnerable at the community and state levels — the federal government increases its power over abortion laws and additional concerns critical to Christians. Whether it’s a school board or mayoral election, it matters.

Let’s look Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y. 14th District). She won the Congressional election with only 16,000 votes out of an estimated 700,000 people in her region.  The representative, 29, wants to reconstruct the Constitution so she can run for Oval Office. The current age to run is 35 and has been since 1789. AOC wants America to become a socialist country. This all unfolded when she presented the New Green Deal which included the government taking away cars, reducing air travel and giving equitable pay for all people regardless of education. Just another reason people need to vote in local elections. Remember, less than 2 percent voted for AOC and this conversation would be obsolete if people voted for her challenger.

As mentioned, if we don’t vote, someone else will make our decisions for us. That’s a sobering thought. In the meantime, we are to vote locally and nationally and pray for our leaders.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord (Psalm 33:12).”