Disillusioned by the promises of politicians and convinced that the entire political system is irreparably corrupt, many Americans will be staying out of the voting booth for the 2018 elections. This isn’t new, however, as many refused to vote in 2016 as well.
Although that number may seem high, in 2016, faced with the prospect of having to choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, 46.9% of eligible voters didn’t even vote in the presidential election. Most of those who no longer vote have given up on the “lesser of two evils” fallacy and the irrational belief that somehow the government has our best interests in mind.
Respondents of the told poll takers at USA Today and Suffolk University in a recent survey:
“Nearly two-thirds of adult U.S. citizens will stay away from the polls during the coming midterm elections, and they say they have given up on the political parties and a system that they say is beyond reform and repair…
A majority of those non-voters would like to see a third party or multiple parties.” –Suffolk University
The Huffington Post noted, “The poll surveyed Americans who aren’t registered to vote or who are registered but say they’re unlikely to cast a ballot. Combined, the two groups include more than 100 million adults, the pollsters note.” And the corruption in government is becoming apparent to those who choose to opt out of voting. About 68 percent of independent voters and party registered voters who say they are unlikely to vote this year agreed with the statement: “I don’t pay much attention to politics because it is so corrupt.” It’s a marked increase over the 54 percent of respondents who agreed to this characterization of politics in the 2012 survey.
The bad news for both major political parties continues too. According to Truth in Media, around 63 percent of respondents in these categories agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “I don’t pay much attention to politics because nothing ever gets done – it’s a bunch of empty promises,” which is also up from the 59 percent who said the same nearly six years ago.
Only 22 percent of respondents said the Democratic and Republican parties do a good job of representing Americans’ political views, which is down from 32 percent when the question was asked in 2012.
An increasing number of voters from both sides are beginning to see the corruption and manufactured compassion inherent in most (if not all) politicians.
