Low Turnout Hurts Democracy

If you were eligible to vote in last Tuesday's primary election, did you vote?

If not, why not?

The turnout last Tuesday was one of the lowest ever recorded for Queens County. For every precinct that counted higher numbers of voters pulling the levers on the voting machines, at least three others in any given district had vote counts that went in the other direction.

Low turnouts mean tight races. One candidate for a state senate seat got on the November general election ballot by only 208 votes. An Assembly candidate in a

three-way race was less than two percentage

points ahead of her closest rival when the polls closed. The putative losers in at least three races are demanding recounts- as well they should. A close vote, especially one in a low-turnout election carries with it the possibility of significant error. A recount is perhaps the only way possible "to make assurance doubly sure". Recounts, however, cost money-money that comes out of the pockets of taxpayers, both those who voted and those who didn't.

Recounts also open the possibility of further error. Errors must be rectified, so vote counts must be gone over repeatedly until the people with the responsibility for doing the counting agree that the totals are correct. If the recount takes place after a general election, it may mean that the business of government cannot proceed until the count is considered final. Besides taking time as well as money, the recount

process puts the candidate and the proposed constituency in limbo-not a comfortable place to be.

If you were eligible to vote in last Tuesday's primary election, did you vote?

If not, why not?

Arguments that the candidates are too many or the issues too complex do not hold water. Anyone who can follow a sports team or note every detail in the life of whatever prominent figure happens to be the celebrity of the moment is fully capable of discerning the issues in a campaign and the candidates' stance on them. There are numerous free guides as well as the candidates' own literature available to help voters familiarize themselves with the issues and the people running and make up their minds. Ignorance is neither an option nor an excuse.

If you were eligible to vote in last Tuesday's primary election, did you vote?

If not, why not?

According to some reports, last Tuesday's primary election was considered by many people to be inconsequential. "I'll save my vote for the general election," they declared. "A primary is a waste of time." That's not always the case A close primary election in June 1972 retired fabled New York Congressmember Emanuel Celler and put Elizabeth Holtzman in office the following January. Was the fact that Celler was no longer the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, a post Holtzman as a freshman member lacked the seniority to assume,

one of the factors that led to then President Richard Nixon's resignation some 18 months later? We don't know for sure, but "For want of a nail...". Every vote in every election matters.

If you were eligible to vote in last Tuesday's primary election, did you vote?

If not, why not?

The greatest act of terrorism ever committed on American soil took place five years ago, during another primary election. To what we're sure was the surprise of the puppet masters of the terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and who, with their intended victims, died when Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, their acts didn't frighten us away from the polls. A number of those who lost loved ones to enemy action on that day expressed their willingness to defy the forces of darkness by casting their ballots. Not to follow their example is to hand the terrorists a victory they could not have anticipated, but would certainly welcome. The object of terrorism, after all, is terror, and people who are too afraid-or too complacent or indifferent- to vote in an election have let themselves become victims.

If you were eligible to vote in last Tuesday's primary election, did you vote?

If not, why not?

If you are registered to vote in the November 7 general election, will you vote?

You can't complain about whatever happens next if you don't.