Last week, voters in this cowtown went to the polls and cast ballots to elect the next city council, mayor and a handful of municipal judges. This news-dog was among the many who exercised their constitutional right that day.

The term “many,” however, is subjective as a paltry 13.5 percent of registered voters in Kansas City made time to go to the polls and cast a ballot. In Historic Northeast, the highest polling number was in the 11th Ward, Fifth Precinct where just under 10 percent of voters cast ballots. The unintended consequence to those abysmal numbers is this: Launching an initiative petition now, given the low voter turnout, will be twice as easy as it was before, requiring only 1,700 petition signatures to place an issue, regardless of how silly it is, on the ballot.

Still confused? Let this news minded canine put it in simple terms. Remember crack-pot Clay and his whacka-doo light rail petitions? Well count on even more of his ilk to bring all manner of “issues” to the table, regardless of how insane they might be. What this also means is that should someone want to once again jam a toy train streetcar down our already overtaxed throats, it will be twice as easy to place that initiative on the ballot, thereby wasting even more taxpayer dollars forcing an election on an issue that should have never seen the light of day.

This pooch doesn’t relish those consequences, unintended or not. For the 13 or so percent who took time from their busy schedules last Tuesday to cast a ballot, congratulations. You now have the right to voice your opinions. For the other 87 percent who were either too lazy or uncaring, please surrender your opinion cards at the front desk.