Have Katie Barge and Lauren Weiner been indicted yet? No? I wonder how long it will take before these suspended members of Senator Schumer’s campaign committee are charged with identity theft. Excuse me? Never, you say? Oh, that’s right: They’re Democrats. Republicans are getting indicted left and right on spurious charges while legal machinations against Democrats grind only slowly.

These two enterprising women are being probed for allegedly using a Social Security number to get access to a credit report on Maryland’s lieutenant governor, Michael Steele, a rising Republican star. Mr. Steele is a charismatic speaker who also happens to be black, and that makes him dangerous to the Democratic Party, which must keep the black community in its back pocket. That’s especially true here in New York City.

As Election Day nears, I keep hoping against hope that New Yorkers from all ethnic groups will wake up and take voting seriously for a change. This means exercising responsibly the privilege of electing our community representatives. For too long, too many New Yorkers have taken the easy way out and voted down the party line as a family tradition. Consequently, the same do-nothings get into office, perpetuating the status quo.

I’ve heard many in the minority community say they will never vote for a Republican. When asked why,they have no answer. Yet these same individuals are the ones who constantly complain about high taxes, failing schools, and poor services. They never bother to research the records of the politicians to whom they repeatedly hand over the reins of government. But things are changing, and while it may not be in time for this election, hope springs eternal.

A new organization was founded last year to break the yoke of ignorance in the election process, at least on Staten Island. Citizens Organized for Political Empowerment, aka COPE (www.copedrum.com), was established to promote a strong political organization and spark active participation in the civic and political affairs of Staten Island through education and voter registration.

The key word here is education, because it’s much easier for demagogues to use the code word “disenfranchised” than to address the issue of voter error due to inexperience or carelessness. COPE’s president is Bill Taitt, who formerly worked for Council Member Michael McMahon, a Democrat. Mr.Taitt crossed party lines to promote the candidacy of Republican Al Curtis for state Senate. Had Mr. Curtis won, he would have been the first black candidate ever elected from Staten Island. Like Michael Steele, he is a conservative and therefore a target: Mr. Curtis’s campaign was sabotaged by Leonora Fulani, who distributed an unauthorized campaign letter urging black voters to vote for Mr. Curtis based solely on their color. Clearly, events like this can be avoided in the future with an educated electorate, and it is with this in mind that COPE was established.

The race for mayor this year is hopelessly lopsided when it comes to financing, but the City Council races are quite interesting. There is a glimmer of hope that Republicans have a chance to bring some balance to the city government.

Presently, the City Council is topheavy with anti-capitalist socialists who haven’t a clue about how important business is to the city’s working class. Its members have chosen to override Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of a bill designed to keep Wal-Mart and other nonunion retailers from doing business here. Josh Yablon (www.joshyablon.com), a GOP candidate to represent Manhattan’s Upper West Side in the council, is sponsoring a Consumer’s Rights Freedom Ride to Wal-Mart on Sunday, October 30. Mr. Yablon believes the present council is doing a disservice to struggling young families. “Not only are they doing nothing to lower the cost of living for the people of New York City,they are fighting to keep prices artificially high,”Mr.Yablon states in a press release.

An educated voter does his homework and will find good and bad candidates in every party. It is vitally important, however, to keep an open mind as we prepare to vote. I happen to be a conservative, but if I lived in Queens I would be voting to re-elect Council Member Eric Goia, a Democrat of the party that used to be. He’s a politician who’s hands-on, living and working in the community he represents. He sees a problem and does his best to solve it without wasting taxpayers’ money. Then again, we have Democrats like Bill Perkins, who thinks noncitizens should have the right to vote, and Charles Barron, who sees everything in black and white, period.

New York City needs a healthy multiple-party system. That means no double standards, and equal justice, when it comes to ethics. Mr. Schumer, need I say more?