With primary elections approaching, our casual conversations with friends have taken a more serious turn. Who is running for what office? What do they stand for? Who should we support? Can they win? 

But even as some of us are doing homework on candidates and issues, our numbers as invested voters are diminishing. Too many have fallen into the morass of complacency. The belief that one vote can’t make a difference has become the theme for Californians whose civic engagement has withered under governmental malfeasance. Hordes are singing a sad song that goes like this: It doesn’t matter if I vote since nothing ever changes.  

At the risk of being the fool who tries to light the darkness with a single candle, consider this: Your vote matters because the work you do to align your voting preference with your view of right and wrong, your virtues and ethical standards, is an exercise in repairing your ethical fences and commitments. Your vote is an expression of you, and what you value. Your civic engagement, regardless of how you vote, is an expression of your virtue and ethical standards, or sadly, the lack thereof.   

It is clear from the way elections turn out that many voters don’t take the........

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