to cast your vote today

Published Oct. 12, 1999

Today voters will decide on what many political gurus are describing as one of the most significant issues to affect the state in recent memory.

Today, in an election that contains no candidates, voters will decide the fate of Gov. Don Siegelman’s proposal to use a lottery to fund preschool programs and to provide scholarships to many college-bound students.

The importance of the vote cannot be overstated morally, politically (for Siegelman anyway), educationally and with regard to the future.

The decision will have a lasting effect on Alabama government and education, no matter what the outcome is.

In recent weeks, Christian organizations have sought to portray the lottery as nothing more than casino gambling in a pretty wrapper called education.

At the same time, progressive educators have sought to portray the lottery as a fix-all solution to an ailing education system.

Neither assessment is accurate, and the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

But this much is true. Everyone in this state who is a legal resident at least 18 years of age and who is registered to vote will be able to be a part of the making of history as the lottery vote is approved or rejected. In fact, each of us has a civic obligation to ourselves, our families, our communities and our state to express our opinions through the ballot.

As history is made today, choose to be a part of it and not an idle watcher. The vote for or against Alabama’s lottery is revolutionary. Join it. Cast your vote.

Polls close today at 6 p.m.