Where were you?
Please be advised, if you are reading this: Your vote Counts! In Soldotna, on March 5, there was a special election to see if the citizens wanted to support an indoor sports arena. If you voted ‘NO’, you won by 18 votes. Eighteen citizens made the difference between having an indoor sports arena or not having one. For this election, only 19 percent of registered voters voted. There were 363 voters opposed, and 348 voters in favor of building the arena. That’s a total of 708 votes out of a possible 3,711 voters. I applaud the 708 voters for caring enough to vote. For the other 3,000 voters … well, I don’t know. Maybe you were out of town (there is always absentee). Maybe you are just trying to make a living and don’t have time. Maybe you didn’t hear about this special election. Maybe you feel that you have no real stake in this issue. For whatever the reason, you might have missed an opportunity to make a change in your community. Somehow, we have to get the message across, to all the people: YOUR VOTE MATTERS.
— Alex Koplin, Homer, Kenai Peninsula Votes