How about a Voters' Revolution?

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Sometimes "apathy" is mistaken for "fatigue"

I have observed that you may have one year where great efforts are made by large groups of people who were perhaps previously "non-voters".... driven or cajoled to have their voices heard, resulting in something around 60% turnout (versus say what had become a "normal" 40% turnout in a more hotly-contested election). These folks are subjected to hours and hours of waiting in line to vote, only to encounter pages and pages of nonsensical ballots (e.g., like what happened in FL). And after finally completing that process and perhaps seeing positive change as a result, the following year they are not as willing to go through the same nightmare again (hours and hours waiting in endless lines only to find broken machines or their name not showing up on a polling place roll and more deliberately obtuse ballot initiatives mixed in with critical ones).

The issue of "voter revolution" often results in a short-term "sprint" without an infrastructure change to allow for sustaining the voter levels over the long-term "marathon" of being a regular voter. And the resistance to election reform is designed to keep things this way, starting at the local and state level (and ultimately impacting what happens at the nation level and Congress).

So there needs to be a push to reform and bolster the state elections and as a case in point, this is why the Kochs have decided to micromanage elections at the state and local level in order to build a legislative infrastructure beneficial to them and counter to what we are looking to achieve.

There needs to be a non-traditional way to reach out to those who have chosen, out of fatigue, to drown out the often-incessant noise of what they feel is "politick-speak", with what they feel is a more productive use of their time - even if many of us consider some of those activities frivolous.

Making it easier to vote is an obvious, but of late, an often difficult solution to achieve. The mail-in ballot system seen in a number of western states, is one that could be pushed elsewhere. It eliminates the need for a "polling place" and lines (although the option to come to a designated polling location could still exist for same-day registration/voting). And the option for (somehow verifiable) electronic balloting would capture a whole demographic (that DU often wants to ignore) who insists on structuring their activities around their devices.

Bringing back or enhancing "Civics" in the elementary schools with the emphasis on using voting as a means for change, can capture young minds ans encourage their participation when old enough to vote.

Just throwing some odds and ends out there...