By Paula Merritt
Well, I'll start off by saying that I am not much into politics and I admit, I am sometimes clueless in what is going on around me. I'm not a Meridian resident, heck, I'm not even a Lauderdale County resident.
I do, however, work in Meridian and most of my time is spent there. In my job I have followed many elections and there is one thing that has come to my attention. People are not using their right to vote.
Voting is each individual's voice and from what I have witnessed in voter turnout over the past years is that there is a lot of silence going on. People aren't using their most powerful weapon to decide what happens in their community. That weapon is a simple four-letter word — "VOTE!"
We have two candidates that have repeatedly expressed their love of Meridian and have put together their strategies to take care of the concerns that have evolved. We've all had the opportunity, those who have taken it, to learn about the candidates and what their goals are.
Now it's time to step up to the plate and take that 30 minutes out of your day to let your voice be heard. That 30 minutes represents the next four years and we can't expect good things to happen or changes to be made by just sitting back and hoping that someone else will make the right choice. Their choice may not be for your same concerns.
On June 2, I'm hoping to witness a better turnout than what I have seen in the past. There's something not right about a city that has a population of more than 35,000 and the vote count to only be a third of that. So take those few minutes out of your day and be heard.
Paula Merritt is head photographer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at
pmerritt@themeridianstar.com.
