Stepheny’s Reflection: Ward 3 Election – A Prayer Left Unspoken

Rocky Mount NC City Government, Rocky Mount, NC October 10, '23 City Council Elections, Selling Dreams - Places for Sale 1 Minute

Let Our Ballots Be the Prayers for Rocky Mount’s Future

An election is meant to be a chorus of voices, but in Ward 3 this October, only a handful sang. Just 9.70% of registered voters turned out (570 out of 5,874) to cast their ballots.

There will be a run-off in November. The outcome will be shaped by who steps forward.

“A vote is a prayer about the kind of world we want to live in.” Sharon Salzberg

Salzberg’s words remind us that voting is more than marking a box. Each vote is a prayer: for better schools, safer neighborhoods, more caring neighbors, and a Rocky Mount that honors our shared future.

Casting that ballot is translated into a chorus rather than a few voices. October’s turnout was discouraging to me. I was expecting a great response to promising candidates. Only 570 votes rocks me back on my heels. (I actually said, “well, damn!)

November brings a second chance to show that Ward 3 has come together on their own behalf and not merely leaving these next few years to “whatever!”

If more of us bring our prayer to the polls, the results won’t just be measured in numbers, they’ll be measured in renewed faith in our community.

This run-off is an invitation: let our ballots reflect the world we long for, not the world of resignation.

The real victory in November will not only be who wins, but whether we choose to plant something lasting. A vote is a seed, small, ordinary, but full of possibility. And together, those seeds can grow into the future we’ve been praying for.

“We do not have government by the majority, we have government by the majority who participate.” Thomas Jefferson

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Published by Stepheny Forgue Houghtlin

Stepheny Forgue Houghtlin grew up in Evanston, IL. and is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. She is an author of two novels: The Greening of a Heart and Facing East. She lives, writes and gardens in NC. Visit her: Stephenyhoughtlin.com

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One thought on “Stepheny’s Reflection: Ward 3 Election – A Prayer Left Unspoken”

  1. You are so right, Stepheny. I am appalled at a pitiful turnout…..this time or anytime. No matter how small or how large an issue it is that we have are being given the right to vote for or against, I vote ’cause I/we only have only own selves to blame if, one day, our lives are changed (however big or small) because I, and thousands of others like me, passed over the right to vote on it. I have no excuse at that time….probably won’t even be able to remember why I thought that I didn’t have time to vote, especially if early voting was in play.

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