SierraScape April - May 2004
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by P. McNeer Dillon
In November of 2002, 55% of Missouri voters turned out to vote in the national election. This turnout surpassed the national average by over 10%. This percent was calculated using the total number who went to the polls and voted for both US Senators, divided by the total number of registered voters in Missouri.
While 55% turnout in Missouri wins only mild praise for the civic responsibility manifested, it does represent a voter response superior to most of the nation at that time. One may infer from this that in 2002 political interest and civic responsibility were lively forces in Missouri. One might believe that they are operative still today in the general population.
In the Eastern Missouri Group of the Sierra Club, the voter turnout was less laudable, and there is reason to believe that our members are less likely to vote than the general population in the state.
Let's look at an example.
There were 286 Sierra Club members resident in Missouri representative District 64. This membership list was compared to the list of registered voters who actually appeared at the polling places in District 64. The purpose was to discover how many of the Sierra Club members actually voted. There were 86 Sierra Club members found who went to the polls and voted. A little calculation shows us that only 30% of our members in the district voted.
One might conclude that in District 64 70% of our members do not take their civic responsibility to vote seriously. Since our members consist of those professing interest in the environment, one might conclude that they also did not take seriously the defense of the environment either. In this case, they did not care enough to go vote for environmentally concerned candidates (or any others for that matter). So it may not be appropriate to assert that the environment was the only subject of their disinterest.
District 64 is only one of 69 representative districts in the territory of the Eastern Missouri group, but it furnishes a sample that suggests what may be happening in the whole membership population. This district has a good many members and has more than the average number of members per district in the EMG. It comprises a fair number of club activists. It is structurally representative of EMG district membership.
Of course, some districts have fewer members than the average in the EMG. The turnout percentages for such districts will vary more widely than those populated with more club members, but these would all average together to form the average turnout for the whole EMG. The turnout for more populated districts would usually have a value closer to the overall average.
The voter turnout for District 64 suggests what is generally occurring at election time in the other districts, although it is too small a sample (286 of 5000 members) to define the EMG turnout as exactly as may be desired. The strong suggestion is that roughly 70% of our members do not vote and 30% do.
Some of those who do vote may not be voting for candidates who support the environmental point of view. So the true situation could be worse than I am representing it to be.
If we asked ourselves why our members do not vote we might find many and diverse immediate reasons. One characteristic is associated with each one of them. It was not sufficiently important to the voter, in each case, that he or she would take the time to go to the poll and vote.
Without clinging to any numbers, it is safe to assert that, in the Eastern Missouri group, we have a serious problem getting our members to vote. The majority is not interested enough. We need to establish a rational connection between voting for environmentally concerned candidates and saving the environment from commercial despoliation. Then we have to make it seem important to our members that they really vote for such candidates. Apparently we have not significantly succeeded at accomplishing any of this yet.
I call once more for volunteers willing to participate in telephone banks. These afford us an excellent way to stimulate our voters to act constructively and vote. We need to encourage them to do a little more than inertly associate themselves with that generally approved attitude that the Sierra Club maintains toward preserving the environment. To get involved in this crucial election year, give your name, phone number and email address to Don Barnes at 636-386-2563 or Mac Dillon at 314-862-5239.