Democracy is what we are suppose to have in the United States of America, unfortunately most Americans do not have the slightest idea that their country from the White House down to the lowest elected seat of the local school board usually ignores the will of the people. Issues or incidents usually control what the people's voice wants, usually voiced at the ballot box. But often does not coincide with the opinions of some elected officials. When this happens the peoples voice is most generally ignored. Our elected officials then carries out the monkey business of elected officials and their corporate friends and not the business of the people, elected officials using their own judgment over the wishes of the voters. Lawyers are then hired to manipulate and interrupt the ballot measures to suit their clientele's opinions.
When this happens the only recourse that the voters have is to file suit against the government. What a joke that is, while most hard working Americans have some savings they do not have the funds to fight "city hall" so to speak, court battles can cost several thousands just to get started. The citizen has to fight against a never ending supply of taxpayer funded legal council and the irony of this is, the concerned citizen is fighting against a legal council that they are subsidizing with their very own tax dollars.
Democracy is defined as "the Consent of the Governed." It means shared power or shared governance. It cannot reasonably be called consent when the most important political decisions made by government officials vary grossly from the will of the voters and the public good. While a real democracy is suppose to fulfill the wishes of the majority of the people and to protect the rights of the minorities in the process. America has been neglect in her duties.
There are three crucial aspects to maintain a democracy:
1. court enforced freedom of speech and of publication;
2. allowing everyone to vote, and
3. an easy way for citizens to put issues on the public agenda "the initiative process".

VOTES THAT COUNT? No "Political Gap"
Votes counted make a difference in everyone's daily lives. We have a huge "Political Gap" in the United States. Many polls, decade after decade illustrates a huge majority of the American public wants changes that elected officials refuse to adopt repeatedly. Even when the public follows the rules set forth by the government and uses the initiative process, elected leaders openly ignore the public's wishes and the public's right to be part of actively participating in the workings of the peoples government.
If we live in a democracy why does our elected officials discourage public involvement in the government? They do so by tightening up public access to public records by charging exurbanite amounts to get the information plus high costs to copy the records, or even deciding that all public records are not for public inspection. Elected officials like to limit public comments by putting a time restriction on the time allowed given to a lay person to address boards, commissions etc. It is my personal belief that any person or persons that come before any board or commission should be given as much time necessary to address their problems after all the elected officials do receive their paycheck from the public. In other words it is the duty of elected officials to sit and listen to any person that comes before them, no matter what the issue is or how long it takes. Whether the issue is important or not is not a judgment call for elected officials to make.
Why as a FREE people do we continue to allow elected officials and lawyers to circumvent our wishes? Have we become so lazy and passive that we are allowing our democracy to slowly slip away from us with out a murmur? People should be outraged when one vote is not counted. To live in and maintain a democracy is always a constant battle with those who would rather take away individuals rights, to benefit their own personal pocketbooks or agenda. As a collective group we should step up speak loudly and demand a stop to this dictatorship of aggression.
The last 8+ years people in this country have allowed an assault on freedom, democracy, the constitution, and civil rights and now have been subject to the results, in fact the results of being placid will be rippling through our country for generations. Why sit back and continue to allow these criminal actions to take place in our own fair community? It is not whether you are in favor or against a certain measure but whether you honor and regard the institution of the ballot and exactly what it stands for.