As this newspaper is sent off to the printer late Tuesday night, the 2006 election is far from over in most of the country. Dozens of close races have yet to be decided, and in some districts the polls have yet to close. The final numbers might not be determined for weeks if recounts are necessary, but the trend definitely seems to be with change and the Democrats this year.

Closer to home, the results for Ulster County and the Town of Wawarsing are mostly complete. Those expected to win have won, by comfortable margins, and those who had no chance now know for a fact that they really didn't have one. For such a highly charged election, the local races were markedly subdued. Even the most contentious item on the ballot � The Charter Proposal � received very little attention prior to the election. Without an actual candidate or political party to champion it, the proposal remained a mystery to most voters, with some learning of it for the first time in the voting booth.

Nevertheless it does appear with 162 out of 164 districts reporting that the the measure will be passed by the slimmest of margins. Whether or not the measure does indeed pass, it is clear that a great many Ulster County residents have said at the very least that they desire a significant change, even if the details are not all that clear. No one really knows how such a complex, far-reaching proposal will ultimately turn out; a vote for its passage was really a vote for a giant leap into the unknown. The present situation must be quite untenable for such a measure to even be considered, let alone pass, and pass it might. We are hopeful for its future, and congratulate all who worked so hard to make the new Charter a reality.

In a society where less than half of the electorate bothers to vote, a common excuse heard is that "my vote doesn't count." The vote on the Charter proves once again that each vote in fact does count, even in elections where some candidates win by large margins and others run virtually unopposed. A vote may not matter so much to Eliot Spitzer in Ulster County, but for the Charter each vote was crucial. Politicians will come and go, but the county's decision about the Charter will affect life in the county for years to come, and we cannot think of a vote any more significant than that.

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