Massive Voter Apathy - The Undiscussed Factor in 2016 [View all]

[MineralMan]

In more than one demographic category, but primarily among millennials and POC, turnout was lower in 2016 than in 2012.

For whatever reason, apathetic eligible voters stayed home, skipped the presidential section of their ballot, or voted uselessly for a third party candidate.

In Wisconsin, for example, the number of votes received by Jill Stein, a candidate with absolutely no chance of being elected, exceeds the margin between Trump and Clinton. Even more people voted for Johnson or skipped the presidential race on their ballots.

While it's convenient to say that it's because the two major party candidates were unpopular, that doesn't change the results.

You know who turned out more voters in 2016 than in 2012? Rural areas. Those voters made the difference in several crucial states. How sad that is, it seems to me.

We'll be analyzing this election for the next four years, and pundits will write reams of pages about what happened. None of that will matter, though. The bottom line is simply that not enough people in enough states voted for Hillary Clinton. Apathy decided this election. Too many people didn't care enough to cast a meaningful vote or cast no vote at all.

I'm fearfully waiting to see what the impact of that apathy will be.