Voters need to step up; state needs to help.

This is something I have been pondering for awhile, but the currently active thread that began with a proposal to eliminate caucuses and the discussion that has generated finally prompted me to diary some of my thoughts about the role of voting in our system.  I get the distinct impression that many people, present company excluded of course, just don’t get what it means to vote.  Very often those who came here and became naturalized, as opposed to natural-born, citizens have the greatest appreciation.  I suspect this not only has to do with coming from places that lacked this opportunity in some cases, but also that learning about it is part of the naturalization process.

Regarding voting, I tend to lose patience very quickly with discussions about why people vote, what motivates them to vote, how can we get more people to vote.  I would argue it is our job as citizens to vote – period – and civics classes need to make that clear.  If you are President or Governor you are expected to show up and do your job – meet with people, sign/veto legislation, make appointments, create commissions, work with the legislative branch, etc.  If you are a legislator you are expected to attend committee hearings, vote on bills, meet with constituents, and make appearances in your state/district, etc.  If you are a judge you are expected to preside at trials and motion hearings, hear appeals, write decisions, hand down sentences and opinions, etc.  If you are a political appointee you are expected to manage your department or agency, execute policies as directed by the Executive, supervise the bureaucracy, etc.  If you are a civil servant you are expected to show up to work and carry out your assigned task.  In all cases there could be political or career consequences for not doing your job, and rightfully so.  However, if you are a Citizen (and some would argue that is the most exalted title of all), it is just as importantly your JOB to vote.  I don’t want to hear excuses short of an emergency.  I don’t care if you think the candidates are equally bad or that you can’t see the relevance to your life.  Though we all bring our experiences and perspectives into the voting booth we really should be voting on what is best for the state or country, not just what is in it for me.

Back to civics class, this needs to be front and center of every curriculum.  There were very few things that our country’s founding generation all agreed on, but there seems to have been unanimity on the idea that self-government can only survive if citizens are educated enough to participate.  We’ve heard so much lately about STEM, or if arts are added STEAM, but this still leaves out the social sciences.  However, civics classes must be more than the Schoolhouse Rock version of how a bill becomes law and the niceties of checks and balances, though those are good foundations.  They must be designed to teach students HOW to participate in their government.  It has to go beyond saying that certain offices are chosen by popular vote every couple years and get into how that actually works.  How does one register?  What are the differences between the parties?  How do parties nominate candidates?  For a curriculum designed for MA this should include, in a nod to a point with some validity made on the caucus elimination thread, an explanation of the caucus and convention process, since as has been pointed out they do have an impact on the outcome.  What about getting on the ballot yourself some day?  Civics classes should teach how to do that, both the legal and the political steps necessary to be successful.  I would have this course be a high school senior year requirement culminating in a test similar to a citizenship test (no excuse for there to be less knowledge of the system by natural-born than the naturalized) and a requirement that one register to vote if otherwise eligible.  (Ideally, that would be automatic or at least directly solicited; if my government can find me when I turn 18 to make me register for the draft they can do the same voting registration.)

Finally, the state can be helpful in getting the information out.  Everyone enrolled in a party should receive a mailed letter indicating that caucuses are approaching and indicate where they can find theirs.  The red booklet the Secretary of the Commonwealth sends out with pros, cons, and explanations of ballot questions should be expanded to include similar length positive statements from the statewide candidates.  If we wanted to get really ambitious there could be inserts created by district for statements for those candidates to be stuffed inside the booklets prior to mailing.  I realize not everyone will have time or inclination to do lots of research, but with these improvements if all one did was read the red booklet they could be a reasonably informed voter, especially if all the candidate statements ended with the words, “For more information please visit my website at…”  At the federal level we should go back to insisting on more, better, and fairer coverage on the public airwaves including free airtime.

Democracy as they say is not a spectator sport, but if the game is one I don’t know how to play I’m better off on the sidelines.

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