Columnist and author Bill Vaughan had it pegged perfectly when
he wrote,
”
A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for
democracy, but won’t cross the street to vote in a national
election.
”
He could have added that we won’t even cross the room to vote in
a local election.
Columnist and author Bill Vaughan had it pegged perfectly when he wrote, “A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won’t cross the street to vote in a national election.” He could have added that we won’t even cross the room to vote in a local election.
According to The American Presidency Project at University of California, Santa Barbara, from 1960 to 2004 the average voter turnout of age eligible voters in presidential elections was 55 percent, which is exactly what it was in 2004. Remember, presidential elections are traditionally the ones with the higher turnouts, while the mid-term elections run 10 percent to 15 percent less. Voter turnout for the last midterm election in November of 2006 was up; it was a “whopping” 40 percent of eligible voters.
I have been guilty of not voting, too; for some strange reason I rarely voted during my military career. Now I’m older and wiser and I usually vote, but I also recognize that many people are not going to bother, especially in smaller elections like today’s primary. However, I have learned a hard lesson: If I do not vote, someone else will and I’m just giving more power to those who do.
There is also a dirty little secret. Although politicians and strategists may say they encourage you to cast a ballot, they are often betting you won’t. If you want to know what they really believe, don’t listen to what they say. Look at what they do. They intentionally target their pet propositions and measures for low turnout election cycles where the supporters believe they will have the greatest chance of success. Special interest legislation often shows up where a small, dedicated, voting block can unduly influence the result while the rest of us stay home. Why not just cross them up, get informed and vote, if only for the fun of it?
The political machines know exactly who is likely to vote and when. They have access to public records and they pay to have those records analyzed. They can specify exactly what they want, such as a list of voters who voted in the last four elections. They also know by party affiliation and demographics how you’re likely to vote on certain issues. While those figures cannot pinpoint the vote of an individual, once you know the trend, you can tailor your message to influence likely voters. With that, you have a much better chance of winning,
Another trick is to give propositions and the supporting groups high-sounding names on the theory that many voters will not actually read the election material. They will just vote on their first impressions. Unfortunately, this tactic works far too often. As I pointed out in my column on Robocalls, politics is big business. Therefore, the opinion makers do not want courageous voters. They want “sheeple.” They find informed voters unpredictable and therefore bad for business.
I can’t force you to vote, but think about this. Do you remember that person at work or down the street, the one with the crazy ideas and weird political philosophy you really can’t stand? Well, I have it on good authority that they always vote – if that doesn’t get you to the polls, I guess nothing will.
