Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

  • Shop
  • Subscribe to BMG
  • Contact
  • Log In
  • Front Page
  • All Posts
  • About
  • Rules
  • Events
  • Register on BMG

Op-Ed about Low Voter Turnout (targeted to concerned, but not yet active, citizens)

June 14, 2008 By amfriedman

But hey, it’s a free country.  We should be free to vote or not vote at our leisure.  True enough, but here’s the kicker: witholding your vote doesn’t raise any eyebrows at the State House.  No one cares.  When the reports come out decrying the next wave of American apathy, lawmakers will be extra sure not to be late for their next lunch break.  Lawmakers don’t care about our civic engagement because they have no incentive to care.  Collectively they’ve failed, and we’ve failed, and voter turnout continues to slip because we forget that government doesn’t respond with new offers, lower prices, or enhanced services like a company would when consumers are bailing on them.  Whether our government staff are competent or not, we continue to pay their salaries every April.  Lawmakers only respond to vocal constituents, visionary leadership, and loyal campaign donors.

Interested in passing a bill that would boost voter turnout and make it easier for citizens to vote?  There is one in the State House called Election Day Registration (S. 2514), and it’s already proven itself by boosting turnout an average of 12 percent in all seven states that have it.  In Massachusetts, are you going to leave it our lawmakers to pass S.2514 on their own?  Of course not, because you know that government won’t improve itself unless you prod it along.  It takes more than just witholding your vote.  You actually have to call and write to headquarters to get any of this done.  Think that’s an inconvenience?  Just be thankful you don’t have to do that in your commercial life.  “Hi, Sovereign?  Do you think you can open up a few more ATMs near me?”  When capitalism’s at its finest, your money sends the message, and you save yourself the phone call.

Not so for government!  So get a move on. Call or write Senate President Therese Murray at (617) 722-1500.  Tell her you want to get S.2514 out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, where it’s sat for two months, awaiting your prod.  

Want to call your own senator?  Look them up here: http://wheredoivotema.com.

By Adam Friedman

Director

www.electionaction.org

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0
0

Filed Under: User Tagged With: common-cause, election-action, election-day-registration, massvote, voter-turnout

Comments

  1. syarzhuk says

    June 14, 2008 at 10:37 am

    It’s not really that hard to find out how to register and do so. All it takes is to fill out a small postcard-size form, 5 minutes tops. If people don’t care about politics enough to invest their time into registering on time, why do you think they will care enough to vote for the best candidate? As long as the rules are reasonable (and current MA rules definitely are), I don’t see a big problem with lower turnout. I’d rather have a lower turnout, but with those who do vote caring more about the issues, than a higher turnout of people who come to vote for Gore, but mistakenly vote for Buchanan.

    • greg says

      June 15, 2008 at 12:09 pm

      I’d rather have a lower turnout, but with those who do vote caring more about the issues, than a higher turnout of people who come to vote for Gore, but mistakenly vote for Buchanan.

      <

      p>That is a particularly callous statement. The butterfly ballot confused a significant number of elderly and visually impaired voters. Ballots should meet high accessibility standards. Perhaps you would like to see ballots made as confusing and inaccessible as possible, to weed out all the dummies.

      • greg says

        June 16, 2008 at 10:56 am

        I was implying that Syarzhuk considered them “dummies” when all they needed was higher accessibility standards. Someone emailed me saying it sounded like I thought they were “dummies” — which is exactly the opposite of what I intended!

Recommended Posts

  • No posts liked yet.

Recent User Posts

Predictions Open Thread

December 22, 2022 By jconway

This is why I love Joe Biden

December 21, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Garland’s Word

December 19, 2022 By terrymcginty

Some Parting Thoughts

December 19, 2022 By jconway

Beware the latest grift

December 16, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Thank you, Blue Mass Group!

December 15, 2022 By methuenprogressive

Recent Comments

  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftSo where to, then??
  • Christopher on Some Parting ThoughtsI've enjoyed our discussions as well (but we have yet to…
  • Christopher on Beware the latest griftI can't imagine anyone of our ilk not already on Twitter…
  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftI will miss this site. Where are people going? Twitter?…
  • chrismatth on A valedictoryI joined BMG late - 13 years ago next month and three da…
  • SomervilleTom on Geopolitics of FusionEVERY un-designed, un-built, and un-tested technology is…
  • Charley on the MTA on A valedictoryThat’s a great idea, and I’ll be there on Sunday. It’s a…

Archive

@bluemassgroup on Twitter

Twitter feed is not available at the moment.

From our sponsors




Google Calendar







Search

Archives

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter




Copyright © 2025 Owned and operated by BMG Media Empire LLC. Read the terms of use. Some rights reserved.