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Some Just Won't Vote, No Matter What
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 Dennis Fiely<br />THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH<br />Millions of Ohioans, as history shows, are poised to<br />abstain from what has been called the most important<br />presidential election of their lives.<br />"I feel like it is my duty as a U.S. citizen to vote,"<br />said Jen Horval, a 20-year-old Ohio State University<br />student from suburban Cleveland. "But I really don’t<br />know who to vote for."<br />A highly divisive, high-stakes campaign has failed to<br />dent the ambivalence, apathy, disgust or ignorance of<br />the people whom pollsters ignore: likely nonvoters.<br />Later this week, Secretary of State J. Kenneth<br />Blackwell is expected to issue a turnout prediction<br />for Election Day.<br />Yet, even if Ohio were to equal its 70 percent turnout<br />in 1960 — a figure unmatched since — about 2.5 million<br />of the 8.5 million state residents of voting age still<br />would not have cast a ballot.<br />"There is a habitual group of nonvoters," said Herb<br />Weisberg, a political-science professor at Ohio State<br />University. "No matter what happens, they are not<br />going to vote."<br />Typically among those ranks are the young, poor,<br />uneducated or infirm who lack the time, skill,<br />knowledge or means to participate.<br />"Voting involves considerable effort," Weisberg said.<br />"If our lives were simple, voting would be easy. But<br />our lives are not simple anymore."<br />Other nonvoters include the indecisive or dissatisfied<br />who choose to abdicate their right, sometimes in<br />protest of the candidates.<br />Although nonvoters are branded as slackers shirking<br />their civic duty, "Sometimes people have good reasons<br />not to cast their ballots," said John Green, director<br />of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at<br />the University of Akron.<br />The disenfranchised often lack access to resources<br />that could engage them — such as newspapers, cable,<br />the Internet and transportation.<br />Many, Green said, are too consumed with earning a<br />living and raising a family.<br />"The more affluent and educated have more leisure time<br />to spend on politics."<br />Roger McClendon spent six months trying to register<br />voters on behalf of the Association of Community<br />Organizations for Reform, a nonpartisan group for low-<br />and moderateincome families.<br />Between 5 percent and 10 percent of the thousands of<br />people he approached acknowledged a lack of interest.<br />"One point they brought up all the time was that they<br />were just too busy working to get out and vote," said<br />McClendon, 45, of Columbus, who is unemployed.<br />Lawrence Tackett works as many as 60 hours a week to<br />support his family of five.<br />"I get home at 6:30 or 7 p.m., and I’m tired," said<br />the 32-year-old owner of the Hilltop Barber Shop. "I<br />really don’t care about the election. I’m just working<br />too hard."<br />Tackett shares his shop with barber Tony Robinson, a<br />would-be voter surprised to learn that he missed the<br />registration deadline.<br />"I’m kind of mad about it," said the 30-year-old<br />married father of one. "I thought I had more time."<br />Each expressed doubts<br />To find out how your views compare with those of the<br />people running for president, U.S. Senate and U.S.<br />House of Representatives, go to www.dispatch.com and<br />click on the Candidate-Match icon. about both<br />President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger<br />Sen. John Kerry — uncertainty that could translate<br />into paralysis, Green said.<br />"People who see clear differences and have clear<br />preferences are much more likely to vote."<br />New voters in Ohio have surged to more than half a<br />million since last year.<br />Still, a name on the rolls doesn’t guarantee a vote:<br />Nearly 40 percent of registered Ohioans didn’t cast<br />ballots in 2000.<br />Jill Barkley’s decision to register for the first time<br />this year, she said, reflects her growing interest in<br />politics, although she finds cynicism replacing her<br />apathy.<br />"I don’t know if I will vote or not," said the<br />27-year-old Columbus bartender. "I don’t believe<br />either candidate will make the country better. The<br />more I dive into this political system, the more I<br />realize that the candidates are working for somebody<br />besides the people."<br />Too much information "can almost be a burden," said<br />Gregory Gwiasda, an OSU graduate student in political<br />science who is exploring the role of ambivalence in<br />voter turnout.<br />In the modern, 24-hour news cycle, the constant claims<br />and counterclaims from candidates and commentators<br />might freeze potential voters eager to absorb all the<br />facts.<br />"Some voters, worried about making the wrong choice,<br />don’t make any choice at all," Gwiasda said. "And some<br />people like to avoid difficult decisions."<br />Barkley shares with many unlikely voters a distrust of<br />the electoral process — exacerbated by the 2000<br />vote-count debacle in Florida.<br />"I have very little faith in the system," she said.<br />The Florida fiasco sent a mixed message: One vote<br />could make a difference, as long as it was counted.<br />"There is a lot of carry-over effect from 2000,"<br />McClendon said. "Some people think Bush is going to<br />get in no matter what."<br />Grandview Heights lawyer Don Ruben is among a group of<br />trained volunteers who on Election Day will apprise<br />voters of their rights and help resolve any perceived<br />irregularities.<br />"Voting is essential to democracy," he said.<br />Still, he might sit out his first presidential<br />election since 1960.<br />The candidates, Ruben lamented, have ignored social<br />issues such as capital punishment and corporate<br />welfare.<br />More important, he has grown weary of choosing between<br />two parties "beholden to the same corporate<br />interests."<br />And he is angered that thirdparty candidate Ralph<br />Nader, who won his vote in 2000, doesn’t appear this<br />year on the Ohio ballot.<br />Barkley identified another option that would ensure<br />her presence at the polls: "none of the above."<br />"That," she said, "would be the best waste of my time<br />all year."<br /><br />
