Got a second?

There’s something bugging me lately, and since this is my place to communicate directly with you, the readers, I figure it’s the appropriate venue for a question.

Why don’t more people vote?

I hope the question doesn’t seem stupid or naive. I know our readers vote more than most groups by percentage. However, due to some recent political events where citizens were almost unanimously pissed off by people they voted into office, I’ve begun thinking the conventional wisdom regarding voting is mistaken.

It seemed that when many members of the Legislature were acting like buttholes, almost everywhere I went in town people were talking about it. The same situation existed in the days after the Nevada Supreme Court made its decision. The laws of probability say these people who are talking can’t all be voters.

At any rate, every time there is an election, we see a story the day before the election about how bad voter turnout is expected to be; we see a story the day of the election that says how bad the voter turnout seems to be; and then we see a story the day after the election that says how bad voter turnout was. And the analysis always turns out to be the same thing: voter apathy.

My observations don’t fit that explanation. Voters are often and generally pissed. They are anything but apathetic—cynical, disillusioned, angry. So, that means there are other reasons the voter turnout is low, and we end up with such numbnuts taking oaths to protect our interests.

Sorry to impose, but I wonder if some of you readers wouldn’t mind letting me know why you think people don’t vote. Or, if you haven’t voted or registered to vote, maybe you could send me an e-mail outlining your reasons. I’ll keep names of respondents to myself.

Thanks.