Election Day 2011 is over and done-with. Our duly elected county officials have taken their oaths as the county moves forward into 2012.

It seems a shame that elections involve such contention in our community. It’s understandable that people have different political views–that makes life interesting–but the process itself in this place seems fraught with discord.

Suspicion is aroused by the activities of some who help facilitate the voting of some of our citizens. In reality, most often no laws are being broken by the  voter helpers and people paid by candidates to bring people to the polls. Anyone who has a disability–including illiteracy–has the right to have someone help him vote. Certainly there’s no crime in transporting someone to the polls so they can vote.

It’s not illegal for pastors to endorse candidates from the pulpit and sample ballots which are marked to show the recipient how to vote are perfectly legal (just so they’re not handed out at the polls).

Democrat nominees in this county legitimized that procedure in the last election by paying to have sample ballots printed with check marks by their names and then hiring people to distribute them in the community. The loosely organized effort backfired on at least two local candidates who had each paid $100 and then found that their independent opponents’ names had been marked. So far, the identity of the person responsible for the switcheroo remains a mystery.

All these practices cause distrust among some citizens by giving the perception that other citizens are allowing someone else to make up their minds. The impression is that members of a large segment of our electorate are incapable of making their own decisions. Political machines take advantage of this block of voters, trying to maintain control, assuming that these voters will always follow along and do as they are told, like so many sheep.

Don’t misunderstand. The block voting of a newly enfranchised segment of voters brought positive changes in the ‘60s.

But after 50 years of progress, for the block mentality to be so deeply entrenched seems counterproductive and divisive.

Then there are various networks of “good ol’ boys” which operate during election cycles and produce their own levels of mistrust among those outside.

No one has ever paid me to vote for them. No one has ever helped me vote. Not one has ever told me that I must vote for a certain candidate or given me a sample ballot with their recommendations checked.

I do seek opinions from two people: my 90-year-old dad, still a keen political observer, and my husband who, in the course of doing his job as a reporter, has sat through more public board meetings than anyone else in this county (with the possible exception of his brother).

My wish for the future of Panola County is that our voters would exercise more personal responsibility.

What if most voters said “no, thank you” when handed a marked sample ballot. What if most people just said, “I’ll make up my own mind.”   

We work hard at this newspaper to interview candidates and report their positions. You can look for stories like that in the weeks leading up to any election.

Achieving a higher level of voter self-confidence involves education–reading and gathering facts and discussing and asking questions for yourself. In the case of young people, we should groom them to be good citizens by acquainting them with the election process.

I hope our new Circuit Clerk, Melissa Meek-Phelps, will receive many invitations to visit classrooms in Panola County and describe how elections happen here.

That’s my wish: an informed electorate made up of folks who take their role as citizens seriously, make up their own minds, and vote.