Voter Turnout Plunges Throughout the Western World … Largely Due
to Political Corruption
by George Washington
Washington's
Blog
Less People
Voted than in 2004 or 2008
AP notes:
Preliminary
figures suggest fewer people voted this year than four years ago,
when voters shattered turnout records as they elected Obama to
his first term.
In most states,
the numbers were even lower than in 2004, said Curtis Gans, director
of American University’s Center for the Study of the American
Electorate. Every state but Iowa is showing a smaller turnout
than in 2008, Gans said. Still, the full picture may not be known
for weeks because much of the counting takes place after Election
Day.
“This
was a major plunge in turnout nationally,” said Gans, who
estimated about 126 million Americans voted, for an overall turnout
rate of about 57.5 percent.
***
“Beyond
the people with passion, we have a disengaged electorate,”
Gans said.
USA Today noted
in August:
They cite
a range of reasons for declaring they won’t vote or saying
the odds are no better than 50-50 that they will: They’re
too busy. They aren’t excited about either candidate. Their
vote doesn’t really matter. And nothing ever gets done,
anyway.
***
This year,
perhaps 90 million Americans who could vote won’t. “The
long-term trend tends to be awful,” Gans says. “There’s
a lot of lack of trust in our leaders, a lack of positive feelings
about political institutions, a lack of quality education
for large segments of the public, a lack of civic education, the
fragmenting effects of waves of communications technology, the
cynicism of the coverage of politics – I could go on with
a long litany.”
***
Many of these
unlikely voters are suspicious of and disconnected from
politics. In the survey, six in 10 say they don’t
pay attention to politics because “nothing ever
gets done”; 54% call politics “corrupt.”
***
David Paleologos,
director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center,
which took the survey [said] “You’ve got this overriding
sense of bitterness and people who have been beaten down by the
economy and the negativity and the lack of trust….
***
What could
convince them to vote?
About one
in 10 say they could be drawn by different candidates, by being
convinced someone could fix the nation’s problems, and by
feeling better informed.
Given that
both the mainstream GOP and Democratic parties ignore
the voters’ wishes on the core issues – and even
ignore
their own “base” – this is not entirely surprising.
You don’t need a PhD in political science or economics to
know that both parties are ignoring your wishes regarding war,
jobs,
freedoms
and giving the little guy a
fair shake.
Read
the rest of the article
November
9, 2012
George
Washington blogs at Washington's
Blog.
Copyright
© 2012 Washington's
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