They will speak of Social Security and public education. No democracy can long survive as a truly egalitarian state if this drop in voter participation goes unchecked. The smaller the turnout in presidential elections, the more likely the winner will be hostage to the narrow-minded ideas of those who inhabit the ideological fringes of our society. But instead of sounding the alarm, Bush and Gore have remained quiet. More than a fifth of registered voters who didn't cast ballots in the last presidential election said they either did not get time off to vote or were just too busy.
Political indifference is a deadly hallucinogen.
Take away reason for not voting To keep this from happening, federal elections should be made national holidays. Giving people the day off to vote increases the possibility that more will do so. There's a good chance that interest in the outcome of presidential and congressional elections might spike upward if people aren't forced to choose between casting a ballot and earning a day's pay. But don't expect to see a big push for this idea at either the Republican or Democratic conventions. New voters, especially those who are not herded into a polling booth by one party or the other, are an unpredictable lot.