Why so low?

The Buffalo News ask the question “How low can turnout go?” in today's feature article? In Erie County, 24.5% of the voters participated. That's lower than the2014 mid term when barely 36% of the voters turned out.

And they ask why people don't vote.

In a political science class that I took on voting and elections we discussed these things. Voter turnout has been on the decline in America for years. Many reasons for this (not too surprising) event.

Gerrymandering: Electoral districts are carved up by the party in power to keep themselves in power. The Democrats and Republicans are both guilty of this. They even collaborate sometimes. So the winners are basically predictable. Why bother? BN  covers this.

So let's ditch this gerrymandering in favor of proportional representation. If a party receives 5% of the vote (or more), they receive that proportion of the elected seats. Other countries do that and they have much higher voter turnout than we do.

The media: They only cover the two main parties – the Democrats and the Republicans. I'll give credit to WKBW. In one election they actually covered the Green Party candidate. It was a local election. Nationally, the media covers the two party horse race. There are more than 2 parties running in many races. Just because the New York Times didn't cover a tree falling in the forest doesn't mean it didn't happen.

So, if a candidate is on the ballot, the media needs to cover them. In Governor “Status” Cuomo's first campaign the one and only debate had seven candidates on the stage. In his second run, there were four candidates in the one and only debate. The first debate was OK. The second, aside form the asinine bickering between Cuomo and Astorino, had some good answers from the Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins  and the Libertarian Party candidate Michael McDermott.

If Cuomo will only participate in one debate, then hold the others without him. Let the voters see him for who he is. The media exists to critique and analyze all candidates. By ignoring the “second tier” candidates, it is a part of the voter apathy problem. I enjoyed reading an article by Rod Watson when he covered the Party for Socialism and Liberation's presidential candidate when she came to Buffalo. It was outside the norm. That sort of reporting on the front page will increase interest and more people might even buy the paper. (Actually I enjoy reading Rod Watson's columns. He gives some outside the beltway critiques every now and then.)

To me, the media is a big part of the problem because of the consolidation that has happened over the years. Fewer and fewer people own bigger and bigger pieces of the media pie. That provides for some very narrow ideas and opinions. The media needs to be locally owned and locally run. Why Warren Buffet and not somebody (or a group of people) don't own the Buffalo News is beyond me. The same goes for radio and television. If you don't live in the market area, you can't own it.

We also need a labor media – one that covers the working class, which is completely ignored by the mass media. One that covers the day to day struggles. One that reports union news form the union view. There's so much more to business than the board room. And what happens on the shop floor can make or break a business just as much as a board room decision.

And voter registration is so convoluted and difficult, depending upon the state. You have to register for an election … when? It depends upon the state. In New York I believe it's 30 or 60 days before the election. (I live here and I don't even know.) It needs to be automatic and at 18 years old. And just because a person went to jail does not mean they lose their right to vote. (It's called taxation without representation for those who are wondering.) If you are paying taxes or can serve in the military, you can vote. Plain and simple.

There are so many reasons that voter turnout is down. And rather than pointing fingers, the media needs to do something else.

Like look in the mirror.