By ELLEN SPECTER
Vice President
Los Alamos School Board

Many excellent letters to the editor have been published recently about why we need to come together as a community to support the LAPS GO Bond.

I want to focus on Early Voting. In New Mexico, we are fortunate to have not just one election day but an “Election Month” which starts today, Oct. 10 and continues through Nov. 7.

I used to love to vote on election day. It was a meaningful ritual to exercise my civic duty and privilege. I didn’t mind waiting in line as I always saw friends and neighbors.

However, I completely changed my mind in 2003. Early voting had ended. Sadly, my uncle in Chicago passed away and the funeral was on Election Day. Of course, I travelled to Chicago for the funeral. That is the one and only election for which I didn’t get to vote.

Ever since then, my election ritual is to vote on the first day that the polls open in White Rock. I’m always in and out in about 90 seconds. If anything were to happen on that day, I would still have many other opportunities to vote. Here are all of the Vote Early details.

I’m usually an optimist not to mention a procrastinator, but you never know what could happen on election day. I will always make sure to vote early.

Please join me in early voting to support the Los Alamos Public Schools Go Bond. Your tax rate will not increase, and the $30 million bond will be matched by $35 million from the state. The two main projects are rebuilding the White Rock Elementary Schools, but every school will benefit with repairs, upgrades and improvements.