With election day for 2002 tomorrow, I thought that this might be an
appropriate time to do a rant on the lack of voter participation in the
United States as a whole. With all of the other semi-political type
rants that I have put on this page, it's only fitting that I should
cover this subject as well.
According to census data from the year 2000, there were somewhere near
206 million people in the United States that were over the age of 18.
This is a figure referred to by the federal election commission as
V.A.P. or Voting Age Population.
Of the 206 Million people who could register and vote in the 2000
elections, a little more than 105 Million actually placed a vote in the
November 5th elections. That's just slightly more than 51%. There is
some amount of error in these numbers, as the FEC does admit that that
206 Million people over the age of 18, some of those are not actually
eligible to vote in US elections for one reason or another. However
when you consider that Census data only includes Legal residents of the
US, I can't imagine that there is really a significant portion of the
V.A.P. who are not eligible to register and vote.
Taking a bit closer look at the numbers listed here,
you can see that only 155 Million or so individuals, around 76%, even
bothered to register to vote. Even taking this number into account you
can see that barely two thirds of those who registered to vote actually
cast a ballot. Looking at the data referenced above, which is broken
down by state, it's easy to see that some states are better than others
at this statistic. Missouri ranks somewhere around the middle, with a
higher than average percentage of the voting aging population actually
participating in the election process. In fact at 94% of the V.A.P.
registered to vote only Alaska, which somehow managed to have 110% of
it's V.A.P. registered, has a higher percentage of those who are old
enough to vote registered to do so. However this makes Missouri look
worse in the turnout of those who are registered to vote at 61.1%.
So where am I going with all of this. Well to explain that let's take a
look at a few more numbers. There are 100 members in the Senate two
from each state, and an additional 435 members in the House of
Representatives. Because we live in a democracy here in the US all of
these people are theoretically elected by a majority vote of their
respective districts. So given this let's just assume that each
candidate won their seat with an overwhelming majority ( like that
every happens ) and took 75% of the vote in their district. Based
solely on averages of the numbers that we have seen, this would mean
that these politicians were elected by approximately 79 Million people.
Obviously this number is artificially high given that we assumed a 75%
margin of victory, and that all districts contain an equal number of
voters. Now let's remember that even under the most strict conditions
the most that a law needs to pass through congress is a 2/3's majority.
So that cut's things even further. So the point in this exercise is
that given that all my estimates are on the high side of things, those
who are "serving" us in Washington DC are actually speaking for less
than 25% of those over the age of 18 in the United States.
The problem with this is that we here in the United States are
currently facing a situation that the framers of the Constitution would
never have imagined. Too many of the American people just don't care.
At least they don't care enough to voice their opinion. The US
Constitution provided for a system whereby the country would be ruled
by elected officials whose decisions would reflect the feelings of
those who they were ruling. That's not necessarily true today. Not
through any fault of the election process, or the constitution. Rather
the fault is squarely on the shoulders of the American public.
I read a recent article which claimed that less than 1 in 3 Americans
actually agree with the "Pro-Choice" movement. So why then is abortion
legal? The one third of the population who agree with abortion are
almost twice as likely to vote than those who disagree. You could come
up with similar numbers on practically any major political issue out
there.
It all comes down to apathy. Those with the strongest opinions on any
given subject will always be more likely to vote than those who are on
either side of the issue, but just don't feel extremely strong one way
or the other. When it all comes down to it, by failing to cast a ballot
you are abdicating your right express your opinion. When you to not
participate in the democratic process, by casting a ballot in each and
every election, you are giving someone else the right to choose how you
can live your life. If you are not willing to express your opinion,
then those who lead the country can only assume that you agree with
those who are.
At the end of the day the only way that the democratic system can
really function as it was intended to is for everyone to participate by
voting. I don't care if you are a Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian.
I don't care if you are Pro-Life, or Pro-Choice. Whatever your
political leanings are, whatever cause that you believe in, everyone
should take the opportunity to vote tomorrow. In all the laws that have
been passed governing elections, and everything that is spelled out in
the constitution, there is one thing that I have to disagree with.
Voting is not a right that is granted to us by the government. It's not
even, as some people feel, a privilege of living in a democratic
society. If you are an American citizen, voting is your responsibility.
If you won't choose who should lead this country someone else will are
you willing to live with the choices that others might make for you?
Remember failing to cast a vote against something is the same as voting
for it.
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