Lack of voter participation should be worrisome in a democracy
by Charles N. Wheeler III

The day after the 1994 general election, a group of journalists from Central and South America came to visit the University of Illinois at Springfield.

That, of course, was the watershed election in which Republicans won control of both houses of Congress for the first time in four decades. The next day, the morning newspapers and the TV news shows were filled with stories about the dramatic GOP takeover and what the power shift might portend for U.S. citizens.

But the coverage perplexed the university's visitors. We hear all this talk about the revolution that took place yesterday, one of the Latin journalists explained to a UIS colleague. But the streets outside our hotel seemed calm this morning, he went on. We saw no troops or tanks. What has happened?

It took a moment to realize that the visitors took the news reports literally, and that in their part of the world, "revolution" almost always entailed a violent coup. Another wondered whether the president would let the results of the election stand, or call out soldiers to keep the Democrats in power.

No, no, they were told; in the United States there's a long tradition of peaceful transfer of governmental power whenever the people decide they want a change. Use force of arms to set aside election results, after the people have spoken? Unthinkable!

How certain can elected officials be of the public will when large numbers, even most, of their constituents don't vote?

The next questions, however, were not so easy. How do you know what the people truly want, when so few of them actually voted? Will the new leaders find it difficult to govern because so many did not vote for them?

Again, reasonable questions from folks who live where voting is compulsory, as it is in most Latin nations, and for whom a turnout of only slightly more than one-third of those old enough to vote raises serious questions about the legitimacy of the mandate given those elected.

Hmmmm. To be honest, most people here really don't think about that, the visitors were told. Whoever gets the most votes wins, and everybody just accepts it. Not a very satisfying answer, to be sure, but the Latin visitors seemed too polite to probe further into what they clearly saw as an embarrassing shortcoming in our public life.

Memories of that occasion come to mind as prognosticators forecast another low turnout for Election '98. The anticipated fall-off at the polls this year, of course, reflects voter disgust at President Bill Clinton's ethical failings. In reality, though, turnout has been dismal for years.

In the midterm election the Latin journalists experienced four years ago, for example, the State Board of Elections reported that some 3.2 million ballots were cast. At the time, there were about 8.6 million persons age 18 or over living in Illinois, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That works out to a turnout of about 38 percent. Two years ago, as is typical in years in which a president is elected, turnout in Illinois was higher, with about 56 percent of the voting age population casting ballots.

Nationally, the 1996 turnout of just below 50 percent of the voting age population was the lowest for a presidential year since women won the right to vote in 1920. In fact, turnout in presidential years has been on a generally downward trend since 1960, with a noticeable slump after the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1971.

Political scientists differ widely on what's behind the decline. Some argue that people are less likely to vote when they're satisfied with how things are going; thus, declining turnout can be read as a vote for the status quo.

Others contend that people stay away from the polls because they're unhappy, as pollsters suggest will happen this November. They're dissatisfied with the choices of candidates, or skeptical that their vote makes a difference, or turned off by negative campaigning, or simply offended by the latest political scandal, as with Clinton. Declining turnout thus should be seen as a protest against the status quo, in this view.

Today's busy lifestyles also may be a factor. More than 1 in 5 of U.S. citizens who were registered but did not vote in 1996 said they didn't go to

42 ¦ October 1998 Illinois Issues

Whatever the reason, the lack of participation should be worrisome in a representative democracy whose legitimacy rests on the consent of the governed. How certain can elected officials be of the public will when large numbers, even most, of their constituents don't vote? Or how can one reconcile the ideal of equal representation — one person, one vote — with the reality that no-shows give disproportionate influence to those who do vote? Such questions inevitably lead to a more pragmatic one: How can citizens be motivated to vote in greater numbers?

How can citizens be motivated to vote in greater numbers? It's a right that should be too precious to forgo.

The most effective means, of course, would be compulsory voting, a fairly common practice around the world. But obliging people by law to go to the polls runs counter to the ideal of individual freedom held so dearly in this country, so a less authoritarian solution is needed. One approach would be to eliminate some of the conditions discouraging turnout. Easier ballot access, for example, might produce a more varied field of candidates. Campaign finance reform might lessen voter concerns about special interests buying elections. Greater emphasis on grass-roots organizing might engage average citizens alienated by the media-based marketing efforts so common these days. Weekend voting would accommodate those with burdensome work schedules.

Even a simple appeal to civic duty might do, if one recalls how relatively uncommon throughout human history has been the chance to vote in free elections for one's leaders.

It's a right that should be too precious to forgo in November.

Charles N. Wheeler III is director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

43 ¦ October 1998 Illinois Issues