I heard some pundit this morning suggest that the turnout for today’s elections would be in the neighborhood of 40 percent, which is pretty paltry when you think about it. Six out of every 10 voters are so uninterested in the process that they can’t or won’t bother to take a few moments out of their day to cast a ballot.
So if that pundit is correct, many politicians who will be elected today are going to win with the votes of less than one quarter of all the eligible voters casting ballots for them. And ballot proposals, some of which may have a very real impact on voters lives, will be passed with the support of a similar number of people. That’s a pretty scary thought. Important decisions are going to be made based on the wishes of a minority of voters — regardless of who wins.
Doesn’t exactly give American-style democracy a good name, does it? In most European nations, it’s a scandal when “only” 75 percent of the eligible voters show up at the polls. In Israel’s last elections, they had their lowest turnout ever (percentage-wise), and still 70 percent of the eligible voters showed up. In the Palestinian territories, they managed to get a majority of eligible voters to the polls. In Iraq, where it’s pretty dangerous to stand in line anywhere, people braved long lines to vote in the most recent elections.
We need to do better. If you’re reading this, consider this your reminder to get out and vote.
As for predictions on the outcome: Some Democrats will win. Some Republicans will win. There may even be a few surprises. But the last time I made a prognostication (about things quieting down in the Landis affair), things turned out to be quite different, didn’t they? (Thanks for the reminder, Jim. 😉 )
Now, if only we could vote on the leaders of the UCI, ASO and WADA…
