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Low Voter Turnout in KY Primary Elections Prompted The Following Correspondence Between Concerned Citizens of  KY and Jefferson Review’s Editor:

1.       Just wanted you all to know that CCKy is hoping to produce 15 second ads featuring well known Kentuckians to encourage the citizens of Kentucky to vote.  If anyone is interested in helping with this we ask that they contact us at this email or by phone at   270-395-7110.  We are also looking for someone to help with the production and help gather talent.

Thanks,

Paula Harrington, Gretchen Tucker, Shannon Cope

(Concerned Citizens of KY)

2.       Dear Paula, Gretchen, and Shannon -

I think you have great intentions, but the real problem is not that people are not voting.  (The former Soviet Union had a 99% voting rate!)  The worst thing that could happen would be if you encouraged a lot of people who don't have a clue what they are doing to go out and vote.  It's bad enough now, with most people voting based on emotion rather than rational thought! 

There are many reasons that people don't vote.  One is that they don't think it will make any difference.  Another is that the candidates have bashed each other so much that nobody seems to be worth voting for.  Another is that people are so busy working to pay taxes to support the politicians that they don't have time to educate themselves on the issues and the candidates.  Another is that, since campaign finance laws make it very difficult for people to get into the competition, there is little real competition and therefore little interest in the contest.  If you want more people to participate in the process, your energy would be better spent trying to remove some of those impediments rather than just encouraging people to vote. 

I think your idea of interviewing candidates and publishing those interviews is a great one.  That helps make it easier for people to become informed about the candidates so they can make up their minds about them.  If you could figure out how to reduce taxes so people would  have more time, they might become more involved.  If you could reduce the restrictions on political campaigns so more people could run without being afraid of running afoul of the campaign finance laws, then there would be more real competition in elections, and more people would become interested.  Another thing that would probably bring out many more voters would be a law that allows us to vote for "none of the above" and that required a majority to be elected.  Then, if the candidates only bashed each other and didn't lay out any positive program, we could reject them outright rather than being stuck voting for the lesser of the evils.  I think there are lots of people who would be encouraged to come out and vote on that basis! 

Finally, don't be too discouraged about low voter turn-out.  It may just mean that people are happily going about their lives, which is what they are supposed to do.  In an ideal world, the government would play a very small role in our lives -- filling potholes, enforcing contracts, punishing thieves, recording births and deaths, etc., and most of our lives would involve private endeavors, with business, families, friends, charities, etc.  In that case, as long as the government is not being too intrusive, there really is not too much reason for people to become very involved in the political process.  So I hope you will concentrate your efforts in places that count, not in just prodding people to vote.  Thanks for all your efforts!

Resa

3.       Wow, thanks for the ideas.  We're learning as we go so any and all info is eye opening.  I like the none of the above idea but what happens if no one gets elected?  And how would we go about changing the campaign finance laws?   We are wanting to inform the public about the candidates and did some in this election but still there were people who told me that they were so disgusted with the way the politicians behaved that they didn't vote for anybody.  I was aggravated but couldn't blame them. I was disgusted with their behavior too.  So...we have a long way to go but do believe that things need to be changed and we hope to be a part of that.  Keep in touch. Thanks for writing and for always being supportive.

4.       To answer your questions:

          1.    Why don't manufacturers of products do attack ads against their competitors the way politicians do?  Because they only benefit when you vote "for" them with your money.  Politicians today, on the other hand, benefit just as much by getting you not to vote for their competitor as they do by getting you to vote for them.  So a "none of the above" option would make politicians think a bit more like businesses and try to propose something positive rather than just attacking their competitor.

If nobody gets elected, I guess there would have to be more elections until somebody runs a positive enough campaign that people want to vote for him.  It could be very interesting!

          2.    The change we need in campaign finance laws is to get rid of them.  People should not have to be afraid of going to jail or being severely fined for participating in the political process.  Let it be a free-for-all, with people getting any amount of money from any donors, and with people free to pool their money to advertise for certain issues or candidates without restriction.  Then you will see some real competition, a real exchange of ideas, and a real risk that entrenched powers might lose some of that power.  The current laws stifle free speech, free press, and free competition of ideas.  Do you realize that under the current finance laws you can go to jail for printing up flyers and distributing them? I suppose that today's Thomas Paine, publishing today's version of "Common Sense", would be in prison. Read Richard Lewis' articles in Jefferson Review and you'll see how much trouble he got into just for daring to run for Congress.  The way to change the laws is to build up a demand among the public for their repeal and let that demand be felt by elected officials. 

People who are involved and focused can make a difference.

Resa 

5.       This is great!  Thanks for the info.

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