There are times when a member of a public body, be it the local school board, county council or town council, must abstain from a vote. The reason for abstaining from voting on a motion is if the person voting would stand to gain from the vote, or if the motion pertains to family members. An abstention isn’t a no vote, it’s a refrain from voting. When there’s a conflict of interest, it’s proper to abstain from a vote.

But if the vote last week on the budget by the Fairfield County School Board is any indication, that’s not what a lot of elected officials think abstaining is for.

The $34.2 million budget was approved by a vote of 4-1, with two members abstaining.

As reported in this newspaper, school board members Catherine Kennedy and Rickey Johnson abstained from voting on the budget. They didn’t vote no, that they didn’t agree with the budget, they simply didn’t vote.

We can’t help but wonder why. Was it because they perceived a conflict of interest? Or did they refuse to vote for the budget, and paint it any way you like, an abstention is a refusal to vote, because the other four board members, Harold Heath, Bob Drake, Becky McSwain and Henry Miller, voted for it?

This is already becoming something of a trend, with elected officials who don’t agree with something that’s voted on, (even something as important as the budget for the next year--or as trivial as approving the agenda for that night’s meeting) abstaining from the vote.

When we told this story about a school district budget passing with two members abstaining from voting on it, to a colleague, he said “Voting on the budget is one of the most important things an elected official can do. Isn’t that what they’re there for?”

We see it at the national level as well, where politicians in Congress and the Senate can vote “Present” instead of voting Yea or Nay on an issue. They sometimes use that ability so they can go back to their constituents, throw up their hands and say something like “Now, Joe, you know I wasn’t in favor of that bill, but I couldn’t vote against it if I wanted the farm bill to pass, so I didn’t vote fer it or agin’ it. I voted present.”

This action frankly puzzles us.

Elected officals, we ask, if you don’t agree with a motion, then why don’t you (pardon the expression) man up and vote ‘no,’? Don’t shrink back into the shadows and say ‘no vote’ by abstaining.

To abstain simply because a motion doesn’t sit right with you, deprives your constituents of a voice. You were elected to represent them, so use your best judgement and represent them.

If you abstain for the wrong reasons, if you deprive the citizens of their voice and your representation as their elected official, then what are you doing there in the first place?