I don’t know why I can still be shocked by anything political or even remotely related to politics, but I’m always shocked by the numbers of nonvoters when I see statistics about them. I’ve voted in all but one or two local elections and all general elections since I was old enough to vote in 1974, less than a month after my 18th birthday. Early decisions involved some pretty big issues, such as the death penalty in California, the Equal Rights Amendment, and California’s Political Reform Act of 1974. Bully for me, right? Well that’s about how I feel, no big deal. I’m sure I feel almost as powerless, as an individual voter, as most non-voters do. Things quite often don’t go the way I voted. But it still shocks me to read the numbers of nonvoters. Why? Because I figure, with as few chances as we have in life, and especially in government, to have any say, voting is the one say we still have left. I guess I feel a little like those pro-gun activists who say their weapons will have to pried from their cold, dead hands. That’s how tightly I hang onto my right to vote (which interestingly isn’t even guaranteed in our Constitution), that one little ray of hope in our increasingly disheartening political maelstrom. But that’s me, and it’s why I vote. What I wonder is why don’t more people vote? While my title might imply it’s something to be embarrassed about, I don’t feel that way. I’m not trying to be judgmental here. The fact is I believe the secret ballot is of great importance, and so is privacy regarding whether one votes or not. But as a liberal, when I read that the majority of nonvoters are liberals, and I see liberal interests circling down the drain with each election, and a lot of so-called liberal politicians who are so middle-of-the-road they could easily pass as conservatives, well, my frustration bubbles up and I want to know. Why?
Why do people not vote?
Gregory Rodriquez surmises, in his Los Angeles Times column, that the reason may be not that they don’t care but that they care too much. This makes a lot of sense to me. It’s much more likely for people to feel disheartened and even depressed over something that matters to them, than about something that doesn’t.
Then there are those who claim not voting is a form of activism, choice by non-choice. The League of Nonvoters even claims to consider voting a violent act. Well yes, it can be. But can’t nonvoting be every bit as violent? What about when the death penalty appears on the ballot? What about choosing who represents us in issues such as war, torture, the rights of the wrongfully accused? Isn’t sitting on the side-lines and letting the more violent answer rule, an act of passive violence in itself?
I’ve also heard that people just can’t stand all the politics, the ads, the mud-slinging, the lies, the disappointments, and the need to keep up with political news and information in order to vote at all intelligently. Well, that’s my least favorite thing too. Though I do read about it, discuss it, and even write a little about it (very little), I get so angry sometimes it makes me crazy. It stresses me, gnaws at me, and has a kind of killing effect on my spirit. Politics is a nasty business. Each time an election turns out badly (in my opinion), I think I may never vote again, that I want to be the one hiding my head in the sand, ignoring politics, not getting so upset by it all, telling myself that it’s all an illusion anyway, when we vote for either major party we’re voting for the same bunch of liars, cheats and thieves. There’s more to life than that, there’s a life after this, where voting won’t matter. But still I vote, because to not do so would be, I feel, a surrender to all those unsavory elements, all the lies, the money-grubbing, and - I’ll say it - outright evil. Surely I am responsible, to some degree, if they win and I have ignored the whole mess, withheld my say in it?
So why don’t people vote?
I can’t answer these questions for anyone else, only for myself. But if you want to read more, you may be interested in the results of the Pew Research Center’s survey of nonvoters.
More on the nonvoting phenomenon from Huffington Post and Fire Dog Lake:
Non-Voters Expected To Be Majority Again
2010 Midterms Determined By Non-Voters More Than Voters
