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US and Local Voter Turnout: Nearly Lowest in World's Democracies
Concerns for March 6 Los Angeles Election
[Editor's Note: This initially appeared last Friday's Northeast Democratic Club of Los Angeles Newsletter]
by Sharon Kyle
With election day around the corner, it seemed apropos to include an article on the topic of voter turn out. If you’re reading this, it’s probably fair to assume you’re either a member of the Northeast Democratic Club or, at the very least, you have an interest in local politics.
Although it feels good to know that someone is reading what I stayed up til 2 a.m. writing, the truth is you and I are members of a minority. That’s right—our appetite for all things political is atypical. It’s not likely this is news to you. But just in case you didn’t know, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar, more than 3.8 million people were registered to vote in the last election, held June 6, 2006. Of the 3.8 million eligible voters, approximately 1 million voted.
In our local assembly districts, A.D. 44 and A.D. 45, approximately 20% of the registered voters elected Kevin de Leon and Anthony Portantino (both were endorsed by the NEDC, so this is not a complaint about the winners). But do we want such a small percentage to be the “deciders” for us all?
On March 6th most of the people in our community will not be voting. Political scientists have been analyzing the reasons for the increasing voter apathy for years. I’m not going to list their reasons here. I’ll simply share some statistics I found on the Web. Voter turnout in the United States falls far below nearly all democracies, besting only Switzerland and Poland. To make matters worse, the 54% turnout is during presidential elections. Midterm figures typically are 15% less.
Share this with someone or leave the article at a restaurant, dentist’s waiting room, or anywhere you think 80% of the non-voters might hang out.
Sharon Kyle is the corresponding secretary for the Northeast Democratic Club of Los Angeles and edits the Club's "Northeast Democrat" newsletter, and maintains its Webpage. In her spare time, Sharon does financial analysis for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory .
Comments
It is hard to believe I am the first person leaving a comment here.
I am from the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. 70 per cent of the population including the Mayan Indigenous people from the villages who could be considered as not educated because they only finish elementary school voted in the last election. The governor of the Mexican state of Yucatan is a woman. It seems to me that there is more democratic values and participation here than in most places in the USA and yet Mexico is supposed to be a third world country. We sometimes talk about this in class. I am a Spanish teacher for Canadians and Americans who come to our school to learn Spanish while touring and learning about the cultural differences here.
Posted by: susana villanueva at April 23, 2008 11:35 PM
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