What if they held an election and nobody came? That possibility inched closer to reality last week as only 34 percent of Oregon's eligible voters cast their ballots. That's not just roguish, it's pathetic. What percentage of households failed to take their garbage out last week? How many people forgot to take showers? Unlike these other acts, voting is a privilege rather than a necessity--but it's still a barometer of a society's health. And based on last week's performance, Oregon should be put in the intensive care unit. Sure, last week's election was a primary. And maybe the races were dull. Still, that doesn't excuse widespread apathy. It's not as if voting is difficult. There were no lines at the polls, and absentee ballots--used by a majority of voters--are less complicated than lottery tickets. Which brings us to what Oregonians did do in the last couple of weeks. We bought 4.9 million Powerball tickets--that's more than a ticket and a half for every resident, even though the odds of winning were 80 million to one. Nearly a million of us spent an hour, far longer than it would have taken to cast a ballot, watching the ultimate Seinfeld. Yet only about 670,000 Oregonians voted. Lottery tickets and television effectively sum up what ails us. Too many Oregonians want something for nothing and are willing to sit passively rather than getting involved in government at even the most modest level. Elections are not as entertaining as Jerry Seinfeld, nor can they provide the quick fix of a winning lottery ticket. But that's not their purpose. Our political system depends on the constructive engagement of informed citizens. Failure to vote isn't a protest against the status quo. It's simply failure. |
