Congressional election turn out is at an all time low. Even when voting for the president, less than half of America comes out to have their voice heard. Voter apathy has never been more prevalent and voter knowledge has never been so absent.
The state of America’s democracy is poor and quickly crumbling. With more media outlets than ever before, Americans are tuning in to reality TV and tuning out to politics. Never before has our country been capable of so much, yet its people care so little.
There are some possible explanations. Maybe Americans feel their vote doesn’t matter when the popularly elected candidate loses the presidency, or when 49% of a state’s votes go unheard because of our first past the post electoral system. Maybe Americans can’t relate to their elected officials: women make up 51% of the population but only 14% of congress; Hispanics and African Americans make up 13% of the population each but both have less than 7% of congress; the senate is 84% white male. Maybe Americans just don’t care whose elected because no matter which party runs the country, the status quo remains in stasis.
Part of our goal at ChangeThis is to open people’s eyes to the world around them and their minds to the possibilities that abound. In this election year, we need to have an informed and politically active citizenry. Every vote counts that much more when our country is in a perpetual war against Afghanistan, Iraq, and whoever harbors terror worldwide.
In the coming months, we want to create an information rich, fact based national dialogue on the major election issues. If enough people listen to, contribute to, and help to spread the ideas, America will once again have informed and active voters.
