Today’s election will decide many questions. Will Bill Clinton become the first Democratic President since Franklin Roosevelt to win a second term? Will Bob Dole finish his 96-hour marathon of sleepless campaigning without falling asleep in midspeech and doing another impromptu stage dive? When the last polls close at 8 p.m. Pacific time, we will have our answers.
A less obvious question, but one with just as much import to serious observers of American democracy, is whether this election will be the one in which voter turnout finally drops below 50 percent. Apathy in the electorate is reaching epidemic proportions. With some conspicuous exceptions, the prevailing mood as the campaigns close seems to be relief that this latest political circus is nearly over.
At the least, this is unfortunate. Despite the attempts of many candidates to move toward the center and minimize their differences, there are significant issues at stake this year. The traditional debate between Republican liberty and Democratic equality is still in full force, and a just and lasting reconciliation between them is needed now more than ever.
At the worst, voter apathy reflects a general decline in our democracy. Rampant, bald demagoguery could account for much of the expected low turnout, as candidates twist the truth and insult voters’ intelligence with fudged numbers and televised tripe. The common feeling that voting is pointless might stem from the concentration of power away from the local levels where individual votes carry more weight. Regardless of the cause, political apathy and public-spiritedness do not often co-exist. Studies suggest that people who waste their chance to vote are less likely to volunteer, to take part in community life, or to have much concern beyond their immediate interests.
Voting is an inalienable right. It is also a privilege, duty, and high honor. In the Holy Roman Empire of medieval Europe, “elector” was a title of nobility that only a few enjoyed. The history of our own country’s extension of the franchise from property owners to the poor, minorities, women, and 18-year-olds is full of struggle and sacrifice. No one who understands what it means to cast a ballot can responsibly decline the privilege or shirk the duty of doing so today.
