Democracy is at risk when citizens don't bother to vote: PG LTE--5/31/11
Celeste Taylor
On Election Day, I served as a constable at my local polling place. Hour after long hour passed during which there were often many more election judges, constables and election workers present than voters. It now appears that the meager percentage of eligible voters in my district was representative of the overall pathetic voter participation throughout the county and state.
Scarcely a day goes by without the resounding wails and moans of politicians and citizens alike complaining about the state of our country, schools, mass transit system, property taxes, financial crises of one sort or another, cuts in public services, poor bridge conditions, potholes, etc., etc., etc.
And still, only one in five feel that it is worth a few minutes of their time to go to the neighborhood polling place and vote for the folks we hold responsible for fixing this myriad of issues that demand our attention. Why are there so few young people expressing their concerns at the polls? Lowering the eligibility age for voting was intended to encourage their active interest in the future of the country, but that gesture of bestowing adulthood responsibility seems to have been a fruitless exercise.
We are at war, but the poor families of servicemen and -women who have sacrificed their lives and limbs are the only Americans seemingly affected by it all.
Sanctimonious politicians boast with backdrops of crucifixes and stars and stripes that we are at war to protect ourselves from the perils of terrorism and/or make democracy possible for people in foreign lands struggling under the rules of tyrants.
By our indifferent example, we make the point to these same foreign citizens that our democracy grants the right to be uninformed, indifferent and uninvolved and we take full advantage of that right, all the while touting an alleged desirability to share our democratic ideals. Keep in mind that the reported poor percentages of voters participating in the recent election are only a small portion of the registered electorate and not the much larger body of eligible adult citizens who could vote if they would only register to do so.
We have little right to boast of the merits of democracy when we are quickly becoming the least involved citizens when compared with citizens in the remaining world democracies. Shame on us!
WALLACE MERRELL, Whitehall