About "Ballots, not BS"

Random Lengths News editor James Preston Allen complains about low voter turnout in the Los Angeles-Harbor Area.

I do not know whether to agree heartily or to disagree vehemently. For starters, he cites relevant statistics, which expose unequivocally that people do not vote. On the other hand, does it really matter in the short-term? Between Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel, Los Angeles voters will be choosing a future leader who will be beholden to unions, and be holding up any real reforms in public sector. With a state that is dominated by a Democratic supermajority, and a Democratic governor bent on punishing suburban schools at the expense of inner city schools, one can understand why voters feel powerless.

Voter apathy turns out in large part because voters feel that they cannot turn out the results which they want to see. Consider the local example of City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who had promised to publish full-page broadsides stating “I AM A LIAR” should he choose to run for district attorney during his first term in office. He broke his promise not to run for higher office, yet he refused to honor his part should he break his word. Is it any wonder that voters feel disillusioned and disinclined to vote in the Los Angeles area? Broken promises, opportunism, and unaccountability have not changed much. Perhaps politics has all too much in common with the oldest profession, except minus the entertainment value, and less costly all around. In at least one instance this past year Angelenos made their voice known. On March 5, the majority of voters rejected another sales tax increase, proving once again that people want their handouts from the state, but they do not want to pay for them.

 Instead of focusing on votes, let us heed free-market economist Milton Friedman, who suggested that we “get the wrong people to do the right things.”  An enlightened, engaged citizenry is crucial to democracy, whether local or national. Voter activism has reached an all-time high. A possible recall effort intimidated State Senator Ted Lieu from attempting to triple Californians’ car tax. Suburban parents and students are protesting Governor Brown’s unjust and inequitable school funding formula reforms. Constituent calls moved Congresswoman Hahn to reject the debt-ceiling deal, and protected the Second Amendment in the US Senate. Therefore, even if voter turnout is depressed, there is no reason to be depressed in turn.