New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 28, 2024

Editorial: Be blessed that you can vote and respect the outcome of elections

By Andre Jones | November 5, 2019 6:23 pm

*Editor’s Note: This editorial was written and published prior to the release of results.

We have all been blessed with the write to make a choice and to vote. Several people have given their lives and made countless sacrifices for this right. It was an honor to cast my vote and will always continue to be one.

I remember hearing stories about the difficulties that came with voting prior to my birth. I specifically recall a story on a record by Jerry Clower that spoke about how one of his family members worked overtime just to get enough money to pay the poll tax to vote. That’s the importance that it meant to vote. Similar stories can be related to today how our ancestors fought for the little bit of money to provide this generation an opportunity to vote.

So now that we have voted, we must now do two things: We must be respectful of the outcome, and we must do our due diligence to hold people accountable.

Throughout the campaigning process, I have been able to hear candidates speak about their viewpoints on situations and scenarios. Similar to the past, I want to challenge the voters to make sure that his/her candidate, win or lose, to be accountable for what they have said.

One of the biggest viewpoints I am planning to observe is if that person who gets into their elected office, are they going to do what they say they will do. I can honestly say that I probably have attended approximately 95 percent of all supervisors’ meetings and school board meetings in both Charles City and New Kent, so my perception from someone who has never been to one. This was evident at Charles City’s town hall meeting when a resident who had lived in the county for about four years didn’t know who their supervisor was.

I am also going to keep my eyes out on those who weren’t elected to their respective positions. Are these candidates going to continue to do what’s right in the eyes of their communities? Are they going to be supportive despite not being voted to that position? A person’s character can be the ultimate story in triumph. It’s similar to watching a sporting event: Even if you’re not winning the game, are you going to continue to play and fight or are you going to just give up on your teammates who have been supportive of you?

As the votes tally in Charles City and New Kent, be respectful of the outcome. Not everybody’s going to be happy and not everybody’s going to like the results. Still, the ability to vote is an honor that we should not take lightly nor should we disregard. We’re blessed to be in the position we are. Don’t squander the opportunities by taking one day out of your life to vote. Instead, continue to be supportive and knowledgeable of what is taking place.