"Voting's boring!", "Why vote when it doesn't mean anything?", "My guy never wins anyway.", "I don't vote because it isn't worth jury duty. (No longer true by my understanding)", "It's not worth taking off of work." I have repeatedly heard these excuses and it is a frustration to anybody that involves themselves in the endeavor of supporting a political candidate.

I was pretty taken aback from the fact that in the election just passed, Baltimore voting was at an all time low with only 75,000 people showing up which makes up only 23% of the registered voters and even less a percentage when we consider Baltimore's population of people of voting age to be 489,801 citizens (US Census 2000, with an estimated 2006 population of 631,366).

The low numbers deeply saddened me and also added to my opinion that Baltimoreans are caring that much less about society in general, or their responsibilities towards being in it; something I experience on a daily basis.

Being a Maryland Republican, actually low numbers of people voting help us out a bit, but most of us still feel your vote is important and worth taking a little time out to do. If given a choice, I do vote for a Republican candidate, unless I feel the Democrat has actually done the better job and kept to their responsibilities of carrying out their job. If I feel either candidate isn't right for that job, I won't vote, but only for that particular office; there's just too many offices and items not to vote.

After watching the show, "Combat Zone," on the Military Channel; I wondered what would happen if someone decided to shoot at a group of voters when the polls opened. I guess you could add, "Why vote, it isn't worth your life!"

But it is! In fact your life depends on it as the people voted into office have a direct effect on the turns you life takes; be with their planning, social priorities they attempt to set, budgetary decisions or taxes. That is why not only voting is important, but also gaining an understanding of how governments work, how it should work and also keeping abreast with the news and decisions that ultimately affect our lives.

This is where what happens now may not be known to you until much further down the line and one's own observations, interests and beliefs really come into play. Not to mention a responsibility of adult voters is also setting the climate what our children will be given. Here political philosophy needs to come into play, which is something I really don't see happening by too many sides to the issues.

I would like to relay a story to Baltimoreans that brought voting home to me. This was directly taken from the show, "Combat Zone;" where the marines in the province known as the Triangle of Death, gave their lives and did what they could so that Iraqi citizens could vote for the first time.

The Marines fighting there had a hell of a time because they were fighting against a large concentration of insurgents determined to take the province over and prevent people from voting. In fact it almost succeeded as the Iraqi government had canceled the elections there.

Two colonels decided to go to Bagdad to change their minds and did only after promising to secure the area, which led to many conflicts and death. The elections proceeded and opened with the threats and promise that the insurgents would fight to prevent people from coming to vote. In the Marine's mind, one Iraqi citizen showing up to vote would be considered a victory.

One obvious problem was the suicide car bombers, and they were dealt with by closing all the roads around the polling places. The marines were flustered as the polls were about to open and they didn't see any Iraqis coming out to vote, until just before voting time.

It is then that the first attacks started with all the established polling places coming under rocket, mortar and gun fire attacks. In fact at a particular one they came under such an attack 31 times. Needless to say other marines wondered whether it was too dangerous and what to do with the Iraqis still lining up to vote and they were told, "Hell, let them keep voting." The Marines did their best to fight off the insurgency and kept the polls opened.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark A. Smith (CO, 2/24th, Marines) recounted the following:

"There was a young man, pushing an elderly man in a shopping cart because you couldn't use your vehicles that day. They were restricted by the Iraqi government; and when the Marines asked him, 'Why are you coming up here under mortar fire?' His response to them in broken English was, 'Thanks to them, his father's only wish was that he would vote once as a free man." In fact in the Triangle of Death, 16,000 Iraqi citizens would show up to vote and even under fire, 70 percent of the Iraqi citizens turn out to vote.

Another Marine stated, "Every house was having a 4th of July celebration. They were hugging each other, kissing one another!" The Marines all appeared on the documentary as ecstatic and happy how their efforts paid off, when they were only hoping for one person to show up.

Voting in my opinion is one of the easiest rights to ignore, but one of the worst to forgo when it is not available. Maybe in today's situation one still has enough comfort to dismiss it, but usually apathy is the first symptom that may eventually make the leaders decide it isn't necessary or desired and after that; you may wish you finally decided to have a say in how you are governed.