Why is low voter turnout a bad thing?

Why is low voter turnout a bad thing?

I've wondered this for a long time. To hear some people tell it, we should be ashamed that we have such a low percentage of participation. It's an embarrassment. Other countries do it better. Yada yada yada.

I say, So what?

To me, the primary reason we should care is that we value freedom, and that that's exactly what freedom means. The ability to NOT do something if we don't want to.

The secondary reason for me is education. A forced voter is unlikely to educate them self on the candidates and/or issues and is thus more likely to cast a bad vote. I don't want my carefully thought out vote to be canceled out by an uneducated voter. Now, if you do educate yourself, and still disagree with me, that's fine. That's why we have chocolate and vanilla, as they say.

Yet people always decry our low voter turnout and I just... :shrug:

radcen said:

Why is low voter turnout a bad thing?

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Well for a start, low voter turnout isn't just a cause but an effect. It’s bad because it demonstrates that something about the political system isn't engaging the people it impacts. Exactly what or why will vary but it generally can't be a good sign.

Low voter turnout can cause (further) democratic deficit. It makes it easy for extreme minorities to impose their views or even for outright electoral fraud to happen. In more general terms, it further distances the people from the government, making it easier for leaders to disregard general public opinion or general needs.

You seem to be making the leap of logic to mandatory voting but there is a lot of scope between people choosing not to vote and them being forced to, indeed, I don't support any kind of mandatory voting without the kind of information and schemes that would seek to encourage more people to choose to vote (and in an informed manner) anyway. Get that kind of thing right and mandatory voting becomes something of a moot point.

Of course politicians and the partisan politicos don't want more people to vote for many of these reasons. It's much easier for them to maintain the status-quo with a small number of partisan voters and a large body of uniformed non-voters. And I'd argue that the very reason politicians oppose something is a good reason to do it .

HonestJoe said:

Well for a start, low voter turnout isn't just a cause but an effect. It’s bad because it demonstrates that something about the political system isn't engaging the people it impacts. Exactly what or why will vary but it generally can't be a good sign.

Low voter turnout can cause (further) democratic deficit. It makes it easy for extreme minorities to impose their views or even for outright electoral fraud to happen. In more general terms, it further distances the people from the government, making it easier for leaders to disregard general public opinion or general needs.

You seem to be making the leap of logic to mandatory voting but there is a lot of scope between people choosing not to vote and them being forced to, indeed, I don't support any kind of mandatory voting without the kind of information and schemes that would seek to encourage more people to choose to vote (and in an informed manner) anyway. Get that kind of thing right and mandatory voting becomes something of a moot point.

Of course politicians and the partisan politicos don't want more people to vote for many of these reasons. It's much easier for them to maintain the status-quo with a small number of partisan voters and a large body of uniformed non-voters. And I'd argue that the very reason politicians oppose something is a good reason to do it .

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Not mandatory voting, though that is what prompted today's question. I also ask myself this question every election when I see "Get out the vote" campaigns.

Your point in red is a good point, and would be evidenced by the extremes having so much influence in primaries, thus leaving average voters feeling left out with no choices in the general elections.

"I don't want everybody to vote.

Elections are not won by a majority of the people.

They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down." -- Paul Weyrich (cofounder of the conservative Heritage Foundation, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the guy who named Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority)

Paperview said:

"I don't want everybody to vote.

Elections are not won by a majority of the people.

They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down." -- Paul Weyrich (cofounder of the conservative Heritage Foundation, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the guy who named Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority)

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The 'Moral Majority' are the people who want to get the U.S.government off of Wall Street's back and into every American bedroom.

radcen said:

Why is low voter turnout a bad thing?

I've wondered this for a long time. To hear some people tell it, we should be ashamed that we have such a low percentage of participation. It's an embarrassment. Other countries do it better. Yada yada yada.

I say, So what?

To me, the primary reason we should care is that we value freedom, and that that's exactly what freedom means. The ability to NOT do something if we don't want to.

The secondary reason for me is education. A forced voter is unlikely to educate them self on the candidates and/or issues and is thus more likely to cast a bad vote. I don't want my carefully thought out vote to be canceled out by an uneducated voter. Now, if you do educate yourself, and still disagree with me, that's fine. That's why we have chocolate and vanilla, as they say.

Yet people always decry our low voter turnout and I just... :shrug:

Click to expand...

I think the main reason, is a political one... Those advocating people to get out to vote obviously think it would result in their favor. A sort of indirect advertising/campaigning, especially if they know typical demographics they are aiming at.