Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Don't people care who gets elected?

These are troubling time in California.  Very troubling times.  As many people around the country know, California had a statewide primary on June 3rd, 2014, on which Californians voted for statewide offices as well as propositions, local positions, and measures.  Well, some Californians did.

Initial tabulations have voter turnout at a whopping 18.3 percent.  It was even worse in Los Angeles County, where only around 13 percent of registered voters decided to vote.

With this low turnout, a casual observer might think there wasn't anything, or anything important, to vote for at all, but this was hardly the case.  For one, this primary served as a major test of the top two system in California, where instead of seeking party nominations, candidates run off in an open primary, and the top two vote getters get on the general election ballot in November.  Californians voted for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Controller, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and two statewide ballot measures.  Additionally, Californians all over the state voted in primaries for their representatives in congress, which given its approval rating, people may want to rethink whether they want their representative winning another term.  There were also a lot of local ballot measures that many Californians didn't vote for but some did.

So why didn't Californians go to the polls?  Was it because they felt that certain candidates would win anyway?  This could certainly be the case, as in races such as Governor, Jerry Brown, the incumbent, won by a wide margin.  However there were numerous other races, such as for Secretary of State and Controller, where the incumbent was termed out and Californians had the opportunity to vote for someone else.  Potential voters also may have felt a bit of apathy to the political process.  The state's fiances seem to be on the mend, and there is less for the electorate to get enraged about.  Some people probably thought their individual vote wouldn't make a difference, but with situations such as measure AA in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, which looks to have just squeaked by, individual votes here and there certainly made a difference.

Regardless of their reasons, the fact that many registered Californians decided to forgo participation in the electoral process has lasting effects for our future.  Gone are the days of strong electoral participation in California that say around 60 percent of registered voters participate in elections.  In these kind of elections, there is a new silent majority, one that would rather stay home than vote in an election that they deem to be either predetermined or pretty much meaningless.  Paradoxically, because this silent majority has grown ever larger, especially in California in this election, these voters have shown exactly why they are wrong.

If only 18 percent of registered voters vote, not even registered voters, then that means over 80 percent of people that were in a good position to vote decided not to.  That is a sizable portion of the state's population, certainly enough to make a difference, that sat on the sidelines instead of participating.  There are fewer and fewer excuses available for failing to vote: voting is becoming ever easier.  We can vote by mail and in some areas of California you can receive your sample ballot and election information electronically.  It's not that hard to vote, but so many Californians didn't do it on June 3rd.

Voting is one of the most important things a citizen can do to make a difference in America.  If people don't take the time and participate in elections, they get the government they deserve.  Regardless of whether people hate their government of love it, voting is an important action to make sure that citizens can influence how decisions are make.  If you don't vote, you don't matter.