COUNTLESS AMERICANS believe that voting is the highest expression of civic responsibility. In 2022, the Pew Research Center asked 3,600 adults what traits or behaviors go to the heart of good citizenship. By far, the most common reply was voting: nearly 70 percent of respondents described voting as a "very important" aspect of being a good citizen.
However, voting is a right, not a duty. In our constitutional system, each of us is free to march in a protest, to own a weapon, to worship God, to write a book—and equally free not to do those things. Voting is no different. The right to participate in an election includes the right to stay home.
Citizens choose not to vote for any number of legitimate reasons. They may dislike the candidates, oppose what the parties stand for, or detest the pandering and defamation that dominate political campaigns. They may have more pressing things to do with their time, or they may simply be uninterested in public affairs.
There is nothing wrong with not caring about politics or with having higher priorities than voting. There is something wrong, however, with turning the franchise of voting into a fetish. Voter turnout is not a good test of democratic or civic health. Just as we wouldn't urge a motorist who doesn't understand auto mechanics to tinker under the hood of his car, or solicit investment advice from someone who doesn't know anything about finance—why would anyone think politically disengaged Americans ought to be hectored into casting a ballot?
Blame the Candidates and the Parties, Not the Voters
Today, even people who are normally engaged in the political process are turned off by the candidates running for office or by the lack of choices on the ballot. Like millions of Americans, I find myself politically homeless today. Neither major party offers a vision I can relate to. I recoil from the Democrats' obsession with race and gender no less than I do from the Republicans' shrillness on immigration. As a citizen, I'm embarrassed by the caliber of the candidates nominated for president this year by the major and minor parties. I wouldn't want to be governed by any of them, and I won't vote for either of them.
The down-ballot options aren't much better. In the overwhelming majority of "races," the outcomes are predetermined. According to Ballotpedia, the nonpartisan digital research site, 75 percent of state and local elections so far this year have been uncontested. Most incumbents cruise to reelection without even a pro forma challenge.
To be clear, I would never discourage anyone who wants to vote from doing so. But no one should feel obliged to cast a ballot merely to fulfill a civic duty, especially at a time when our politics has significantly degraded. Keeping silent is sometimes the most meaningful exercise of free speech. And sometimes the most meaningful exercise of the franchise is to withhold it.
Not Engaging in the System Can Change the System
I agree that good citizenship includes staying abreast of local issues and paying attention to how officials are doing their jobs. As a career journalist, I agree that keeping up with public affairs is one mark of a responsible citizen.
But I cannot follow the logic of those who claim that good citizens ought to vote even when there is no candidate or party they support. That is like telling someone browsing in a bookstore that he ought to buy something to read before he leaves, even if nothing appeals to him. Or like urging someone perusing a dating app that she ought to swipe right on someone, even if it isn't anyone she would want to meet. We wouldn't make such an argument when it comes to matters as limited as reading material and socializing; surely we shouldn't make it about something as consequential as government power.
Individual Interpretations of Civic Duty Can Vary
To my mind, the right to vote encompasses a duty to vote wisely. What that means in any given election will vary widely from voter to voter. Millions of voters think the wisest thing they can do is support the nominees they believe to be the most trustworthy; or have the right experience; or belong to a party they favor; or make promises they find attractive. Some may decide that the better part of wisdom is to hold their nose and cast a ballot for the least offensive option. But millions of other citizens will conclude that the wisest course on Election Day is to not vote for candidates who are unfit for the job.
Today, fully half of all young people say they identify with no political party. The share of Americans who generally trust the government to do the right thing has plummeted from 77 percent in 1964 to just 22 percent today. Disillusionment with America's electoral and political system is deep-rooted and widespread. The solution to that disillusionment isn't to tell politically disengaged voters they are obliged to keep voting for candidates or parties they cannot abide by. When manufacturers realize that consumers are shunning what they sell, they work to improve their product. Granted, politics isn't commerce. But if America's political leaders realize that more and more voters are declining to cast their ballots for severely defective candidates and parties, perhaps they too, at long last, will offer something better to the American people.
Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe.
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