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Show Democracy needs your vote By Robert F. Dee We talk a lot about American democracy. But the question is: Are we using it? Abraham Lincln said that ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets. But statistics show that Americans aren't fighting hard enough with ballots. Only once in recent time, in the 1964 Presidential election, did the number of voters for a President qome anywhere near matching the number not voting. Of the eligible voters 37.8 percent voted for President Johnson; 38.1 percent didn't vote at all. But democracy is based on the premise that most eligible voters will choose our Presidents. Otherwise, we're electing them by default-not choice. DILEMMA OF DEMOCRACY. Now we've arrived at the 1980 Presidential elections. People complain that the choice is hard-between an incumbent who seems to have lost the confidence of many Americans and a not fully tried new challenger. In the 1976 election, 46 percent of those eligible didn't vote. How are we to know what the outcome would have been if they had? Who would be President now? That is the dilemma of our democracy. The polls can't answer the question. They reflect the opinion of all Americans, voters and nonvoters. And since almost half of eligible Americans haven't voted, on average, for the past third of a century.where does that leave us? Here we are, facing the problems of high taxes, galloping inflation, double digit interest rates, flagging productivity, produc-tivity, an uncertain dollar, goverment over-regulation, the largest national debt in history, and a largely hostile world-and we cannot be certain whether the Chief Executive of our country is truly the choice of most of our eligible voters. The next question is: Will we do a better job this November? Uncertainty about the meaning of our vote can only inspire a loss of confidence con-fidence in the hearts of Americans-and may inspire disdain in the minds of our enemies. Recognizing that fact, facing it, we must ponder jt and act. It's sobering to think that throughout oifr planet, millions fail to enjoy the right to vote that too many Americans lightly disregard. UNDECIDED A clue to the reason for the American voting dilemma may be this: In the 1976 election, 11 percent of those voting did not make up their minds about the candidate of choice until 24 hours before casting their ballots. And 5 percent-more votes than the margin of victory-are believed to have decided on the way to the polls. These facts suggest that Middle America, which the census shows does most of the voting, has long found it difficult to distinguish important differences dif-ferences between the positions of the two Presidential candidates. But this year there are differences-and differences-and they seem to be important. A SHOW OF STRENGTH As we approach ap-proach Tuesday, November 4, we will make a choice that will largely determine the kind of America we will have during the decade of the Eighties. That choice is never easy. The history of American politics shows few cases where the candidates have been models of perfection. Democracy is the most tolerantly human of all political forms. Some of our greatest leaders have seemed less than heroic on Election Day. But we must not vote by default. We must reverse the trend of nonvoting, confound the pollsters and the media, and make the 1980 election a triumphant trium-phant show of American unity. This election can be a symbol of America's strength. The world is watching. |