We have seen tremendous interest in the upcoming elections in both Gloucester and Mathews. Contests for the boards of supervisors and school boards have people proclaiming their choices.

Mathews County has the added interest of a referendum on the question of relocating the Confederate monument from the court green, an emotional topic.

The state offices on the ballot have not drawn nearly as much interest as those close to home, yet Virginians on Nov. 2 will elect a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and members of the House of Delegates.

Absentee and early voting is already underway throughout Virginia. In addition to weekday hours, voting will also take place the last two Saturdays before Election Day, beginning this Saturday. In Mathews, the window to cast your vote will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. both this Saturday and next, Oct. 30. In Gloucester, those hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those who don’t make it to the registrar’s office by Oct. 30 will have to wait a couple more days, to cast their vote at their precinct on Election Day, Nov. 2.

No matter the outcome of these contests and questions, life will settle down to normal and the hot words will be mostly forgotten.

Even so. Election Day is the annual birthday celebration of our democracy. If you don’t go to the party, you may get left behind with nothing but table scraps.

Having said that, we quote someone who said it much better: “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
—Abraham Lincoln.