Low Voter Turnout, Apathy, and Responsibility

The 16% turnout in the recent election is a piercing demonstration of voter apathy. The County Council thoughts on this low turnout published in the July 24, 2014 Gazette are disturbingly off the mark... 

• Hand wringing about the Right to Vote and voter registration, 
• Blaming the media for discouraging turnout by reporting on the failures of government rather than publicizing good works, 
• Election scheduling,
• The need for a mobile app to encourage early voting,
• Cross party voting, and 
• The need for voter incentives to vote and even the absurd suggestion of paying people to vote. 

The poor quality of thought of these suggestions from elected officials trumps the 16% turnout... no wonder people don’t vote. At the heart of the low turnout issue is citizen apathy and complacency. The antidote to voter apathy is to remind citizens that voting is a civic responsibility and a duty. Just why do voters need to be reminded? Their elected officials at every level have failed in their duty, and the 16% turnout is in fact a citizen report card on their efforts. Yes, responsibility cuts two ways... citizens are responsible to vote and elected officials are responsible to perform. Citizens with their 16% turnout failed in their responsibility, but is the apathy a reflection of the poor performance of elected officials?

Let’s review some of the discouraging examples of the poor performance of elected officials at every level:

1. Montgomery Village Foundation board elections and the manipulation resulting in premature resignations of elected board members, one a month after the 2013 election due to failure to meet residency requirements, another eleven months after the 2014 election. Then there is the Montgomery Village Foundation board vote on the Montgomery Village Golf Course development tilting in favor of the developer even when faced with overwhelming residential objections.
2. Montgomery County Executive and County Council and the dumping of numerous undesirable County facilities onto the Webb Tract adjacent to a Montgomery Village residential community of expensive homes, a move that was vigorously fought tooth and nail by active Montgomery Village residents. Then there is Goshen Road widening and the decision on M83 alternatives.
3. The Maryland Delegation to Annapolis led by Senator Nancy King and the dumping of an unwanted public restroom and concession stand in the South Valley Park environmental and nature preserve using a $125,000 grant of State of Maryland Bond Bill funds. 
4. Governor O’Malley and the Board of Public Works (BPW) turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to citizen objections to the process violations in the Maryland Bond Bill grant process   on Senator Nancy King’s  South Valley toilet even when these violations were carefully presented to him and the BPW face to face in Annapolis.

With November just around the corner, citizens need to exercise their responsibility to vote. Elected officials at every level need to begin to exercise their responsibility to citizens whether they vote or not.