Quit Surfing. Quit Working. Go Vote.

Turnout in off-year elections is the pits. In primaries, it’s a circle of hell. In the 2008 primary, just 24.2 percent of Flagler County’s registered voters cast a ballot. In the 2006 primary, 23 percent did. That’s registered voters. The proportion falls in the 10 percent range if you go by eligible voters. So don’t be a dweeb. Don’t be an offense to democracy or to the 3 billion people on this planet who never get a chance to cast a ballot. Don’t even sit there reading FlaglerLive. Go vote, even if you think that a dead politician is the noblest work of god.

Not voting has its merits. It’s a right in itself for that matter, and an entirely defensible right. But unless you can articulate your reasons for not voting the same way you can articulate your reasons for choosing particular candidates, you have no excuse. Not feeling like voting doesn’t count. Nor does claiming you don’t have time: if you had time to switch on your TV today, you have time to vote. And yes, some of those candidates have no business running. No need to name names (Bob Abbott, Nate McLaughlin). But even when you’re faced with choices that aren’t choices at all, use your write-in pen. Vote for none of the above. That choice doesn’t appear on our ballots, as it should, as it does in Nevada (the only state that takes its prostitutes seriously). But you can make it count by writing it in.

And if you haven’t made up your mind yet, you can get some ideas here.

The county’s 40-odd precincts are open until 7 p.m. Two lists follow below: a list of the changed precinct locations, and a full list of current precincts. If you run into issues at polling stations, feel free to send us your observations by email.

Meanwhile, I’ll agree with Ibsen: “It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals; let them make their experiments on journalists and politicians.” Voting is as close to experimenting by and on political animals as it gets.

–Pierre Tristam

Polling Precincts That Have Changed

Where You Vote: Flagler County Precinct Locations