News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Local & Bistate

May 27, 2012

STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Many say they don’t vote in primary because of tag that comes with it

INDIANAPOLIS — A couple of columns ago, I posed a question about why most Indiana polling places on primary election day had so few customers.

I’m still hearing from readers eager to answer that question.

In my last column, I quoted some readers who saw voting as almost sacred obligation.

For them, the fact that only 19 percent of Indiana’s 4.4 million registered voters cast their ballots on primary day was cause for shame.

But most of the responses I’ve gotten are from people not only willing to confess to not voting, but somewhat surprised by those who still do.

While their words differed, the theme of their responses was often the same: They don’t want to be associated with anything so nasty as politics or politicians.

Many said they didn’t vote in the primary because they didn’t want the tag that would come with it: In having to ask for either a Democrat or Republican ballot — as required in primary voting — they feared or loathed the idea of being seen as loyal to a party.

“Never missed a national election!” declared one man who described himself as an “independent” voter who avoided primaries like the plague.

Another reader said she didn’t vote in the primary because she heard that if she voted as either a Republican or Democrat in May, she’d be bound to vote that way in the general election in November.

That’s not true, but I’m not sure that was her real reason; she also said politicians made decisions that had “little impact on my daily life.”

There’s something to be said for her point of view: We have a government in place, that for all its faults, doesn’t collapse like some Third World nation when power changes hands.

Maybe that’s why one reader wrote: “I didn’t have it written on my calendar,” addding: “It skipped my mind.”

The most discouraging response came from a woman who has worked the polls on primary days in the past, but now was sick of politics.

She described how she’d felt hounded “ALL day long” by poll workers from the other party who trash-talked the politicians she admired.

She just didn’t see the point of voting in a county dominated by one political party and so few contested races. “I and my husband are both patriotic,” she wrote, noting that “all the men in my family have served in the Armed Forces.”

But neither she nor her husband voted. I hate to end on a note of defeat, but the “no vote” wins out.

The next question: What’s the antidote for voter apathy and cyncism? Let me know what you think. Email me at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.



Maureen Hayden is the Indiana Statehouse bureau chief for CNHI, the parent company of the Tribune-Star. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local & Bistate
Latest News
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
TribStar.com Poll
AP Video
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends Fans Cheer Dramatic Heat Comeback Car Crash in NYC's East Village Injures 8 Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive Raw: Car Jumps Curb in NYC, Injures 8 Time Lapse: Rebuilding Bridge Post-collapse Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On' Raw: NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Dies in Wreck Aug. Trial Set for Ohio Man in Triple Kidnapping Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail Robot Action Connected to Human Thought Raw: Massive Protests Fill Brazilian Streets Failed Cuba-to-Florida Swimmer Won't Try Again Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska Raw: Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City Rain Damages Brazil Soccer Stadium Raw: Baby White Rhino Debuts at Australian Zoo Obama: 'Lives Have Been Saved' by NSA Programs Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
NDN Video
James Gandolfini Dies at Age 51 Paula Deen Admits to Using N Word Rihanna Hits Fan With Microphone Men's Wearhouse Founder Fired Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions Miss Utah Explains Rambling Response Exclusive: Locklear & Seymour Lock Lips Miami Heat Wins in Overtime Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles Fists, chairs fly in restaurant brawl Journalist Michael Hastings Dies in Fiery Hollywood Crash Hairy Leg Stockings Aim to Deflect Male Attention Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor Three Charged for Enslaving Mother and Daughter Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park Spurs' Popovich has no problem with Spurs' intensity RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber
Parade
Magazine

Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
  • -

     

    March 12, 2010

activity
Real Estate News