Essay: WHAT IF YOU DON'T VOTE?

IRONICALLY, America was the first nation to proclaim officially that rulers may govern only with the people's consent. In Britain, Denmark, Italy and West Germany, more than 75% of all eligible voters consistently turn out for national elections. In this century, U.S. voter participation has gone from a low of 44.2% in 1920 to a high of only 63.8% in 1960.

The U.S. nonvoting phenomenon is especially troubling in 1968. According to some analysts, Americans are so disenchanted with the major candidates that millions may skip the election. Not that anyone really knows. Other observers suggest that nonvoters may be far outnumbered by people who ignored previous elections—and will now vote for George Wallace.

All the same, everyone knows someone who toys with the idea of staying home. In California, for example, voter registration has dropped by more than 1,000,000 since 1964, while the population has risen by 1,500,000. Across the country, the abstainers are mainly disaffected McCarthy and Kennedy Democrats, plus some Rockefeller Republicans. If they agree with George Wallace on nothing else, many still feel that "there's not a dime's worth of difference" between Nixon and Humphrey.

Negroes are especially disillusioned. Though Southern blacks are now rousing themselves for Humphrey, Northern Negroes are holding back. "I've never heard so much cynicism about an election," says Nathan Wright, a leading organizer and observer of black militants. "Some are, perhaps, even cynical enough to vote for Wallace, on the theory that if this is what white America wants, let's help the issue come to the top." That may be an extreme possibility, but, as always, it is hard to say who speaks for U.S. Negroes. Moderates tend to agree with Whitney Young: "White liberals can indulge the privilege of not voting, but blacks can't. This is a crucial election."

Ambiguous Exile

The dilemma of the nonvoters is suggested by Eugene McCarthy's awkward behavior these days. After the Democratic convention, he declared in Biblical tones: "We will proceed as a Government in exile, and as a people in exile." The result has certainly been confusing. In New York, McCarthy joined a successful lawsuit to have his name removed from the ballot, thus preserving Humphrey's slim chance to win the state's 43 electoral votes. Yet, in campaigning for antiwar congression?! candidates in California, McCarthy has done nothing to discourage a massive write-in vote for himself. In California, this could cost Humphrey 400,000 popular votes and throw the state's 40 electoral votes to Nixon.