Voter Fatigue, Too Many Votes

In 2004 and 2008, presidential voter turnout was 64 percent. In the highly publicized Massachusetts election that brought Scott Brown to the senate, 44 percent of the voting-age population voted, and all it took was 23 percent to give him the win. Boston's own landmark mayoral election broke ground in more ways than mayoral marathonery; according to Boston.com, estimates of 12-14 percent were shattered by a whopping turnout of… roughly 33 percent.

A systematic apathy among the electorate has effectively become a tradition in a country that owes its existence to popular desire for representation. While the presidential election can be hurt by the "red state/blue state" mentality inspired by the Electoral College, voter disenchantment exists at two different levels for two different reasons. Among the "lesser" elections, there is the notion that the sheer frequency with which Americans are obligated to vote within our federal system creates a kind of voting fatigue.

Consider the number of elections an American deals with over the course of an average year. Statistically, a citizen with such a strong desire to participate would deal with ¼ of a presidential election, 1/6 of an election for each member of congress from his or her state, ¼ of a gubernatorial and mayoral election. This goes without mentioning state legislature, town government, American Idol, et cetera et cetera. If the citizen in question is truly dedicated to exercising his Democratic liberty, he can vote for his Idol as many times as he wants. Sadly, the average American will find the need to cut corners. If he's voted for your Senators and Representatives, how paltry of a contest does his town board election seem by comparison?

Elections anywhere below the Presidential level, unfortunately, suffer from a cynical offshoot of American prioritization. Despite the fact that the more specific nature of these "lower" posts in government give them a greater sway over the lives of their smaller electorate, the knee-jerk reflex is to classify them as less important, as steps down the ladder.

The reason all of these officials are elected rather than appointed is popular desire for representation. Tragically, voting has become a chore for the American populace, an ironic result of the pursuit of more popular control over government. America is slowly moving back to rule by the few, those few who actually motivate themselves to influence their political world. When Ron Paul won the low-turnout GOP straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he was booed as he took the stage, and his victory laughed off as a fluke brought on by his fanatical supporters.

Unfortunately, elections in America may follow the example of the straw poll, with the motivation, or radicalism, of a small group giving them more power than they ought to have in terms of representation.

Granted, this is already a symptom of political process in the media age; the mind is drawn to Nixon's "Silent Majority." The danger with diminishing voter turnout, however, is that the fewer reasonable people there are to temper radical ideas, the easier it will be for those ideas to gain ground unexamined.