E arly voting is underway in the 2026 preferential primary, non-partisan judicial and school election in Carroll County. If you’re a registered voter, I urge you to exercise your right to vote. It makes no difference to me whether you’re a conservative or a liberal, a Republican or a Democrat. If you’re a citizen of our great nation and you’ve reached voting age, I believe it’s not just your right but your inherent duty to participate in the democratic process. There are a lot of ways to do that, but the simplest and easiest is to go to the polls and vote.
The right to vote is something many of us seem to take lightly in the United States, but it’s not something that came without great cost.
From the first patriots who took up arms against the British empire 250 years ago to the American troops serving around the world today, our democracy is something that countless Americans have died to protect. And the single most important cornerstone of that democracy is our right to vote.
Some of you may be disenchanted with our system and feel as if your vote doesn’t count or won’t make a difference. That’s just not true. Every vote counts, especially in local races that may actually have more real-life impact here in Carroll County than national or even state races.
Some of you may think voting is too much of a hassle. Again, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Registration is simple, and the act of voting is not time-consuming — especially if you take advantage of early voting. I nearly always cast my ballot early, and the entire process typically takes about five minutes. I love the convenience of early voting, but even voting on election day is fairly quick and simple. The last time that I recall voting on election day was November 2018, when I voted at St. Elizabeth Parish Center in Eureka Springs, simply because I hadn’t taken the time to early vote and my conscience wouldn’t let me not vote. Even on election day, I was in and out in 20 minutes.
All of us have our own priorities and make our own decisions about how to spend our time. I believe it’s critically important that we spend just a little of that time paying attention to what’s going on in our community and our world, and participating in our democracy.
Our founders had a vision and a wisdom far ahead of their time, but the system they created only works if we do our part.
Please vote.
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Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Eureka Springs Times-Echo.
