Page 74 - Time Magazine-November 05, 2018

growing more concerned about the health of our
institutions. “Democracy is being beaten up, by
negative advertising, by low turnout, by tribes at-
tacking each other rather than being willing to lis- Vote if the
ten or engage with one another,” Fung warns. “All
of that takes chunks out of democracy. And the
more chunks we take out, the more fragile democ-
racy becomes. Eventually it may fall apart.” voices you
Vote as a positive act, since our system has be-
come pitilessly negative. If at all possible, find
someone you can vote for. Our politics can’t re-
flect the best in us if it is powered mainly by the hear don’t
worst—our fears, our resentments, our fevered
tribal furies. If you only vote against people you
can’t stand, those you elect feel less accountable
and have less reason to listen or learn. speak for

Let’s vote because if by some miracle everyone
voted, so much might be different. Roughly 40%
of voting-age Americans cast a ballot in the 2014 you
midterms—the lowest percentage since 1942.
The 55.7% participation rate in 2016 puts us 26th
among 32 developed nations in voter turnout. But
involvement varies widely: in 2014, in Califor-
nia alone, turnout ranged from 22.6% in Imperial
County in the south to 65.0% in Sierra County up
north. In 2016, 70% of people over 70 voted na-
tionally vs. only 43% of people under 25.
This is partly because we make voting hard, in
50 states with 50 different systems. But that also
means we can experiment with reforms, as indi- lobbying companies to give workers at least two
viduals, employers and citizens of state govern- hours’ paid time off for a trip to the polls. Com-
ments. Denver decided in 2013 that it would mail panies from Pinterest to Walmart to Tyson have
all registered voters ballots, which they can send signed on.
back or drop off at a designated spot. In 2016, 72% Vote because this is not the first time our poli-
of its voters turned out—with increased partici- tics has gotten ugly, though the ugly is now every-
pation from both Republicans and Democrats. As where. We are in one another’s faces and feeds
of this year, 13 states and Washington, D.C., have 24/7, in ways not possible 10 years ago. And we are
automatic voter-registration laws, meaning that served, though that hardly feels like the right verb,
when people interact with the government (from by a President with a unique indifference to unit-
getting a driver’s license to receiving food assis- ing the country and a rare passion for jabbing his
tance), they are automatically registered. Oregon, finger into our wounds. It is easier to incite than
the only state with data on the impact of these inspire; it is also effective, or he might not be the
measures, instituted such a policy for the 2016 President, and Brett Kavanaugh might not be a Jus-
election and saw the largest turnout spike of all tice. Conflict drives engagement, which captures
the states compared with 2012. attention, the currency of our age.
Vote because there are fewer excuses. A 2014 We get what we reward. So vote as an act of
Pew survey found that two-thirds of people who common commitment to the common good. At a
didn’t vote said they just didn’t have time. So time when Americans disagree on so much, we can
outdoor-apparel retailer Patagonia will close all its agree that the four-alarm fire of our political scene
stores and headquarters and give everyone a paid is horrific. Think of your Facebook friends whose
day off so they have time to get to the polls, just as politics you’re sick of or whose politics you share;
companies like Spotify, Ford and General Motors vote because it’s a better response than a comment.
did in 2016. “No American should have to choose Let’s vote like it matters. Because then it will.
between a paycheck and fulfilling his or her duty
as a citizen,” argues Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario. Gibbs, a former editor-in-chief of TIME, is the
Given the odds against Congress making Election Edward R. Murrow visiting professor at Harvard
Day a national holiday, groups like Vote.org are Kennedy School of Government
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