Once more, the voters of the city of Dearborn Heights showed us how every vote counts, or more specifically, how a mere 38 votes can deprive a qualified community activist like Wanda Saad from serving on the Crestwood Board of Education.

In a special election held Tuesday, May 5, only a handful of voters cast their ballots, most of them absentees. Incumbent Ron Panetta received 1481 votes (1026 absentees) and incumbent Ed Garcia received 1402 votes (849 absentees). Challengers Wanda Saad and Zenna Elhasan received 1364 (604 absentees) and 970 votes (335 absentees) respectively.

The Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) endorsed both challengers Saad and Elhasan and sent a mailing to the more than 3,600 Arab American voters in the district urging them to cast their votes for both of them. Unfortunately, it is clear from the returns that very few Arab Americans turned out to vote in a school district where they have been treated less than fairly to say the least. They lost their chance to have a strong voice on the board and they are the only ones to blame. This voter apathy must change before we, as a community, can continue to ask for our rights and our seat at the table. It is a shame that Ms. Saad, who ran more than once before, lost by less than 40 votes. It will be even worse if it turns out that some of Saad’s supporters decided to split their two votes between Saad and Garcia because they believed that two Arab Americans have no chance of winning in the same race. There were some voices in the community who voiced their skepticism in this regard. Well, the numbers proved them wrong. If 40 people (or more) voted for Garcia and Saad, they should credit themselves with Garcia’s victory and Saad’s loss. Likewise, if more than 40 voters decided to vote for Elhasan but deprived Saad of their vote, they helped Garcia win as well.

I bring this issue up in order to prepare our community for what is coming. Next week, we will know who is officially running for city offices in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. I have already heard the voices of the self proclaimed analysts who have decided that we should have “only so many Arab Americans running,” etc. In a race where there are several seats and where not all incumbents are in tune with our issues, we shouldn’t try to discourage people from running. This strategy is only logical when the community can only target one seat, either because there is only one to run for, or because other seats are held by people who are very friendly to our community.

We at AAPAC salute both Wanda Saad and Zenna Elhasan for having taken time away from their families to run for public office. We wish either or both would have won, but this is the will of the voters, or at least the will of those who bothered showing up. Until next election, we should continue to focus our efforts towards turning out voters to the polls more than we do towards registering new ones on paper only.

Hammoud is AAPAC’s endorsement chair.