76-03-A2
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Election Day 2
TranscriptThe one thing you can be certain of on election day is that there will be a lot of predictions. I'll be right back. Before the day is out we'll have heard predictions from every corner. Candidates--from alderman to President--will be predicting victory. City and county clerks will predict record turnouts (probably low ones this year), and the three television networks will be predicting the national winners just as the polls close in the east, and three hours before they close on the Pacific Coast. That much, like death and taxes, is a certainty. But what of the significance of the voter turnout? For months, newspaper editorialists and television commentators have joined various political pundits and civic-minded types in deploring the probable low turnout. We are told that as few as 46 per cent of the nation's eligible voters will go to the polls to elect a President and Vice President, a new House of Representatives, one-third of the U. S. Senate, many state legislators and scores of local officials. In recent months the idea has come in vogue of putting a line on the ballot marked "none of the above". But, other than its ironic comment on the low esteem to which politicians seem to have fallen, any serious push for that kind of option on the ballot is really a copout. It says, in effect, that neither candidate is good enough for my vote, so serve me up some better ones. Well, that says something else, too. It says that the person expressing such thoughts wasn't interested enough in the democratic processes of our nation to get out and have an effect on the original selection. Imperfect though it may be, our system for selecting candidates is still probably the best in the world, as thousands of grassroots participants in both major parties can tell you. They may lose by the time they get to the their national convention, but at least they go down swinging. They know they may not win by participating, but they're sure they won't if they don't. Now, some of those who have been wringing their hands about low voter turnout cling to the notion that if only we can make it easier to register, we'll add sharply to the number of registered voters and these new voters will then go to the polls. That's a myth, and now that there is some postcard registration. I think the hand-wringers are going to be wringing their hands at the results. Postcard registration isn't going to make a person better informed or more highly motivated to study candidates' records and promises, let alone complicated ballot measures such as bond issues. Yes, it takes a little work to be a voter. It takes some planning to get to the polls or send for an absentee ballot. And it takes some active use of our gray matter--and maybe at least an evenings reading of the sample ballot and discussion with relatives or friends--to arrive at decisions. That's a small price to pay for freedom. In fact, it's probably the best bargain in the world today. If you haven't already, I hope you'll pay your "dues" today. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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