There Was An Election And Few Showed Up

A popular slogan against the war in Vietnam back in the 1960s was “what if they had a war and no one showed up.” It seems that this old slogan could also describe the latest general election that was held last month in Ohio and the nation.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, only about 40% of all registered voters bothered to cast ballots in the November 2014 general election. Compare that to more than 70% of registered voters who voted in the 2012 presidential election and nearly 50% who voted in the 2010 midterm election. In the 2011 off year election, spurred by the hot ballot issue on repealing a law breaking up public employee unions, 47% of registered voters cast a ballot.

There is no excuse for not voting. Ohio, more than any other state, has made it much easier for someone to vote in elections. We have early voting beginning four weeks prior to the general and primary elections as well as a very liberal voting by mail system where any voter can request a ballot by mail and return it by mail. What can be easier! No one has to bother to take time off from work and wait in lines at polling places. One can even read up on the candidates and issues while voting in the comfort of their own home.

But Ohio voters voted more than other states. Nationally only 36% of registered voters bothered to vote last month. Texas had the lowest participation rate with only 28% of their registered voters bothering to cast a ballot. The state with the highest voter participation rate was Maine with 59% of their registered voters voting; and they had a snowstorm on election day in most of the state.

Of course here in Ohio and elsewhere, there were uninteresting candidates and races. The governor’s race at the top of the ticket was as exciting as watching paint dry. Thanks to a very flawed challenger, Gov. Kasich coasted to victory with 64% of the votes cast. That may seem like a landslide, but he picked up only 30,000 more votes in 2014 (out of more than two million votes cast) compared to his total in 2010 when Kasich won by a margin of only 2% and actually received less than 50% of the votes.

Perhaps if stronger and more interesting candidates ran in the general elections, more people would vote and we would have better people representing us in government. But according to the Secretary of State, voting in primary elections is worse than general elections. In the May primary of 2014, only 17% of registered voters bothered to vote. In 2008, when there was an open race for president, 46% of the registered voters voted in that primary, a high. That year nearly 70% voted in the general election.

But it is in the primary elections where the major party’s candidates in the general election are chosen. If so few people bother to vote, is it any wonder that those who run in November tend to be those who mostly follow the party line. Primary voters are more likely to be those party loyalists and the most partisan.

Low voter turnout results in bad government. When it is mostly the party loyalists who vote in the primary elections that decide who gets on the ballot in November and only the most committed who vote; we get the government we deserve, highly partisan and gridlocked with progress rarely happening. Congress is supposed to be representative of the people and right now congress has the lowest approval rating in history with less than 10% approving of how congress has done. Yet here in Ohio, every representative in congress was re-elected with the closest margin of victory being 55% of the vote. Two representatives ran unopposed.

So, while John Kasich and the Republican party can celebrate victories this November, they should not gloat since they won an election where most voters just stayed home. As one pundit said, it was like being the prettiest girl at a dance where very few boys bothered to show up.

In Afghanistan back in 2002 when general elections were held to elect a new government to replace the Taliban, Taliban supporters threatened to bomb polling places and kill anyone who voted. Despite those threats and in a largely illiterate country of mountains and deserts, more than 90% of their eligible voters voted for their new government.

This disinterest in voting is a national disgrace. The cornerstone of our democratic form of government is the right of the people to elect those who run the government. But when only more than a third of those eligible to vote bother to vote, this places our form of government in peril. To those who failed to vote, please do not criticize the government. You are part of the problem. 

Lee Kamps

Lee has been working with Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurance since he began working at the Erie County Welfare Department in January 1973 where a major part of his job was determining eligibility for Medicaid. He went into the private insurance business in 1977 with Prudential Insurance Company and within a short time had become one of the company’s top sales agents. In 1982, he was promoted into management where he managed two field offices and as many as thirteen sales agents. After leaving Prudential in 1986, Lee decided to become more focused on health insurance and employee benefits. He has advised many local employers on how to have a more cost effective employee benefit program as well as conducted employee benefit meetings and enrollments for many area employers. The companies Lee has worked with ranged from small “mom and pop” businesses to local operations of large national companies. Lee received his B.S. degree from Kent State University where he has been active in the local alumni association. He has completed seven of the ten courses toward the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist designation. He has taught courses in employee benefits and insurance at Cleveland State University and local community colleges. In addition, Lee is an experienced and accomplished public speaker. He has been a member of Toastmasters International where he achieved the designation of “Able Toastmaster – Silver” in 1994. He has also served as a club president, Area Governor and District Public Relations Officer in Toastmasters as well as winning local speech contests. Lee has also been a member of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association’s Speaker’s Bureau where he was designated as one of the “official spokespeople for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” prior to the hall’s opening in 1995. He has given talks and presentations before many audiences including civic organizations, AARP chapters and many other community groups. With the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act (Medicare drug bill) in 2006, Lee has shifted his focus to Medicare and helping Medicare beneficiaries navigate the often confusing array of choices and plans available. As an independent representative, Lee is not bound to any one specific company or plan, but he can offer a plan that suits an individual person’s needs and budget. In addition, Lee is well versed in the requirements and availability of various programs for assistance with Medicare part D as well as Medicaid. While he cannot make one eligible, he can assist in the process and steer one to where they may be able to receive assistance.

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Volume 7, Issue 1, Posted 8:30 AM, 01.05.2015