|
Web posted Tuesday, April
20, 2004
|
 |
Editorial: Bill won't cure young people's
cynicism
Carolina Morning News
We are
not exactly sure why so many young people in South
Carolina choose not to vote, but we are quite sure
that passing another law in Columbia will not
solve the problem.
A bill passed by the
House last week mandates that voter registration
forms be made available to high school
administrators who request them.
In the
first place, the state's various election
officials should already be beating down the doors
at high schools trying to register young people to
vote. That would seem to be a vital part of their
job, with or without any attention from the
Legislature.
In the second place, we would
be surprised if the lack of registration forms had
any bearing on the increasingly disappointing
trend in this country of voter participation
decreasing with each generation. It's not just
today's kids who aren't going to the polls; their
parents went in fewer numbers than their
grandparents.
We see this locally, with the
way politicians court Sun City Hilton Head. Those
"active seniors" vote, and they get politicians'
respect. Not just local politicians, either. Every
serious statewide candidate will swing through Sun
City sooner or later, and more than a few national
politicians as well.
Politicians go where
the votes are. But one could make a case that
there are votes being left on the table, as it
were, because politicians aren't being
creative.
Bill Clinton played the saxophone
on MTV in 1992, and perhaps it wasn't a
coincidence that turnout numbers rose dramatically
- 55.2 percent in the '92 presidential election
compared to 50.1 percent in '88, 49 percent in '96
and 51 percent in 2000.
We have never seen
or heard of a local politician courting young
people, going to their gatherings and trying to
address their cynicism. Maybe it wouldn't work,
who knows? We would bet, however, that it would be
a more effective way to reach those voters than
passing a bill in Columbia.
| | |
.gif){kind=spacer}
.gif){kind=spacer}