Clear skies. Low 61F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph..

Clear skies. Low 61F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.

After decades of a disinterested electorate that rarely bothered to engage on the issues or pay attention to the candidates, there’s engagement galore these days.

Unfortunately, a chunk of that engagement seems stuck on a single negative proposition.

Statements about the voting process clearly show a misunderstanding as to how the system works.

But when people are offered an opportunity to see the process, up close and in person, to truly learn how it works, they don’t come.

As Record-Eagle Staff Writer Mardi Link documented in her report last Sunday, voting tabulator tests are being conducted in precincts throughout the area.

No observers attended — except us.

At least we can tell readers how it went, so that’s good. But do people truly want to know?

There seems to be something of a disconnect that has us scratching our heads.

Do citizens want to engage with the process and hold their locally elected officials accountable or would they rather believe some online huckster who has such a seductive story to sell them?

Some people appear to be buying what that online huckster’s selling.

Case in point: A glitzy video that has been circulating on the web about a couple thousand asses.

Sorry, that’s not quite right. The animal we’re referring to is a cross between a donkey and a horse, but we’re not going to print the title because we don’t want to give the darn thing any more publicity.

That’s what hucksters want. Publicity.

Remember what P.T. Barnum said? “There’s no such thing as negative publicity.”

That American showman, businessman and politician would know — he was an expert at promoting a hoax.

So this video, which purports to be a factual documentary, was directed and produced by a convicted felon and uses cleverly doctored images to sell a scary false narrative that some people really want to believe.

We keep hearing about this movie from citizens attending local government meetings. They cite it as proof of our problems.

It’s good these folks are attending local meetings, but why would they buy this hogwash from somebody they can’t even see, someone they can’t confront, or ask questions, or hold accountable?

“Thank you, Record-Eagle, for running the stories about the public tests of voting machine accuracy,” one reader, who has been a precinct worker for 20-plus years, wrote to us in an email this week. “It’s too bad so few people attend them.

“Judging from the things I’ve heard people say, ranging from random folks I’ve met to elected officials, most people in our state could use some education about elections in Michigan.”

We agree and we’ll try to help with that as opportunities present themselves. Please let us know if you have suggestions.

This week, we published a story about the report of a cybercrime that bilked an elderly couple in Grand Traverse County out of $350,000. It was the largest cybercrime, thus far, for the county sheriff’s department, but the officer indicated it likely won’t be the last.

Sophisticated tricksters know the tools to use to fool people into buying what they’re selling — whether it’s security or scandal or confirmation of what they want to believe.

When you get right down to it, voting is not that exciting – and it certainly isn’t mandatory.

But it is important and it’s a precious right that belongs to us.

Shame on us for making donkeys of ourselves by believing some glossy garbage being sold online.

If there’s a problem with the process, then we need to understand it at the local level and address it in an effective, productive way.

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