Dear Editor,

At a recent meeting someone brought up some information which sounds very interesting and should be looked at by the Boards of Elections and State or Federal officials.

This is pertaining to people running for office as well as those already in office whether Republican or Democrat, Independent, or other Parties.

If a person running for an elected office declares his/her Party affiliation, and is raising monies for their campaign it should be his/her responsibility to represent their Party, if elected, or if re-elected as an incumbent.

The idea of running for office is to take a stand for the Party you represent. Should someone be elected or re-elected and change Parties then he/she should be made to pay back monies he/she raised to the former Party and/or persons who gave monies for their campaign.

To make it more binding, if someone registers Democrat, Republican, Independent, or other Party and is elected, that person should be mandated to remain in the Party he/she registered in until the end of their term.

We need to get back to grass roots politics and have common ground in elections.

Craziness in politics has gone too far.

It is no wonder there are more non voters than voters in this country.

In the far past it was considered your “Duty” to vote, but that has gone by the wayside.

In my opinion young people just reaching voting age would rather play on their phones rather than vote.

Is history not being taught in schools anymore?

In addition those people with some age on them do not vote for a person that is qualified for an elected position, but would rather put or keep an unqualified person in office.

Do your research people. Do your research.

Do your due diligence. Vote when there is an election. Your future and the future of young adults is at stake.

By the way, if you do not vote, you have no right to criticize who is running your village, city, county, state or federal office.

Phil Wallace

Martins Ferry