From the editor.

• Author: Harrington, Susan
• Position: Editorial

Vote this November in the General Election. Registered voters should turn out in force to make a difference with their votes. In the August Primary Election only 88,817 of 515,714 registered Alaska voters cast ballots--a 17.2 percent turnout. As an aside to contrast this year's poor Primary Election participation, in Alaska's 1992 General Election, 82.9 percent of registered voters cast ballots--the highest percentage of voters so far.

By October 3 the number of registered voters had risen to 522,767, and if Ballot Measure No. 1 passes that number could automatically increase in coming years. The measure is a novel approach to ensure more Alaskans are easily registered to vote by automatically registering eligible voters when they apply for a Permanent Fund Dividend and requiring a person to opt out if they don't want to be a registered voter. Ballot Measure No. 1 does nothing that actually causes more people to vote, although by registering more voters it could have the effect of increasing the number of people going to the polls.

The other ballot measure also comes with possible consequences. Ballot Measure No. 2 changes the Alaska Constitution by allowing general obligation bonds for postsecondary student loans. This might sound like a good idea and perhaps it is; however, recently some general obligation bonds have been linked to risky financial strategy-to the tune of $3.5 billion as a way to meet unfunded state pension fund liabilities--but those are being called pension obligation bonds, not general obligation bonds.

Also on the ballot and with probably more far-reaching consequences are the candidates for a president, US senator, and US representative to the national political arena, as well as state senators and representatives. The biggest thing readers need to do is vote; and vote as if the development of Alaska's natural resources depends on it-it does. Alaska is a natural resources...