Low voter turnout is a threat to democracy

The low voter turnout (30 percent) on Nov. 6 is alarming to me. This level of participation represents a threat to democracy. Are the voters so complacent or [do they] feel so hopeless that they do not believe that their vote will make a difference? Their votes would make a more effective difference if voter participation were in large numbers.

New Jersey politicians interpret low voter participation as a justification for not taking a result seriously. Assembly Speaker John Roberts has already stated that the defeat of the 1-cent sales tax contribution to property tax relief is not valid and that it’s the result of an aggressive campaign against it by one organization. Roberts fails to realize that the defeat was because voters recognized a scam when they saw it. There was no guarantee of property tax relief. The Legislature would recover the 1 cent by taking an equivalent amount of aid out of the state budget. Gov. Jon Corzine intends to ignore the defeat of the $450 million stem-cell research bond. He intends to spend the dollars by taking funds from other accounts. Wasn’t it Corzine who said that New Jersey’s level of debt was excessive? Yet he wants to borrow and spend more instead of getting the state’s budget in order. And of course Senate President Richard Codey continues his behavior of ignoring voter wishes while continuing to play ball with special interests at all levels.

Roberts and Codey continue to get re-elected because they rely on low voter turnout. Only those who have reciprocal indebtedness with them vote in large enough numbers to guarantee their re-election. Low voter turnout leads to incumbents adopting an attitude that the government exists to serve them instead of the collective wish of its citizens. Voter participation in large numbers would replace these incumbents and others like them, who are the problem with New Jersey politics.

Perhaps the answer is term limits – three terms maximum. But, of course, the incumbents would never agree to passage of such legislation. Voter participation in large numbers is the solution. Let’s not be hopeless or apathetic or take the “whatever” attitude. Voting makes a difference. Please make the effort to vote.

Gregory M. Cinque

Millstone Township