Saturday 21 December 2019

Why the Low Voter Turnout? - 11/11/2005

Friday, November 11, 2005
Why The Low Voter Turnout?
An editor of our excellent local newspaper, the Daily Pilot, recently wondered why there was such a low voter turnout last Tuesday. Why the low voter turnout? We're just too darn busy - that's the reason so few showed up at the polls this time around. Most of our neighbors lead very busy lives, with barely enough time to chug down a Tub-O-Starbucks, much less invest the time and mental energy to read through a voter pamphlet and sample ballot. Many who actually do take the time to vote just dash into the polling place, flip open the ballot, read the title on the issues and mentally toss a coin before making their choices.

As hard as the partisans try, and despite the mountains of money they spend, they just don't do a very good job of waking the voters up. As loud and as frequently they scream their message, eventually it just becomes part of the ambient noise. Even when our young mayor appeared on TV, pushing his position on Prop. 75, it apparently wasn't enough to roust the voters from their routine. Mail boxes are jammed with so much political "literature" as election day draws near that most of it is tossed directly into the trash, along with the ever-present pennysavers and other junk mail.

The really big issue locally, Proposition F, got lots of publicity, pro and con, for weeks before the election. Either as a result of all that notoriety, or in spite of it, the $282 million school bond apparently just barely squeaked through by the skin of it's teeth.

Maybe we need to make some changes to the system. Perhaps we should adopt a system whereby registered voters who don't take the time to vote would be fined or flogged - or both. If that seems too extreme, perhaps we could just pay every registered voter to participate. That might insure a healthy turnout.

Or, better yet, maybe I'll start a voting service. All you would have to do is register to vote absentee. Then, when your ballot arrives each election season you could just sign it and send it off to me along with a nominal fee - say, five bucks - and I would vote for you. That way you wouldn't have to take time out of your busy day to participate in your government, I would make a pile of money and eventually end up with absolutely nothing to gripe about. Sounds like a win-win to me.
10:53 pm pst

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