Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Low Vote Turnout I Election I How would you like to rule over an entire country ? one with the size, national resources. and worldwide recognition of the United States7 That would be some job and some respon sibility. In essence, you do rule over this country. You have the say-so in how thiscountry tunc Hons. This is a democracy, and a democracy is government by the people ? rule of the majority. The government of this country is one in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them through a system of representation decided by periodically held tree elections. So. with this awesome power in the grasp of the people, why were only 64 percent of them registered to vote in the 1982 elections? No matter how many individual reasons are given, it boils down to an allinclusive one ? APATHY. Apathy is defined in Webster's Dictionary as "lack of feeling or emotion; lack of interest or concern; indifference." The bottom line, then, is the 36 percent of the eligible people in this country just didn't care enough in 1982 to fill out a simple registation form ? and therefore were ineligible to vote ana exercise tneir rignt to choose how their country would be run. Whether the number of unregistered voters increases or decreases this election year depends on the desire of eligible persons to exercise their right to participate in governing this country. In order to vote, you must be registered. The weight of one vote Many potential voters argue that their one vote won't affect the outcome of an election, thus, they stay away from the polls on elec t'on day. or they simply don't register to vote. "'"he importance of one vote is stressed by the following statistics prepared by the American Historic and Cultural Society. h'C : ?In the 1980 election, 70 million eligible Americansdid not vote. In 16 states, five percentage points separated Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. These states produced 165 electoral votes, more than 60 percent of the 270 required to carry the Electoral Col lege. ?in 1960. Richard Nixon lost to John F. Kennedv hv less than nnp vntp npr nrpnnrt out of a total exceeding 69 million votes. ? In 1968. Mr. Nixon won over Hubert Humphrey by less than three votes per precinct out of more than 73 million ballots cast Additional Statistics Other Census Bureau statistics show that. in thn 1 Qft9 olortmnc ho Dnmihli^in Dirtu v> a _/ w t_ wivvuumj, mg i ac^/uu1 iv^a i i ? ai ly maintained its eight seat majority by only 40.000 of 50 million votes cast for 33 seats. I One changed vote of every 1,250 cast would i have given the Democratic Party control of the Senate And in the House of Representa tives, 14 races were won by 2.500 votes or fewer per district Eighty two races were won with 55 percent or less of the vote >r -lurts Process The Census Bureau further reports that 40 percent of American men and women in business did not vote during the 1982 elec uuio emu ui<u mute iridri j percent were not even registered to vote. The November elections are rapidly approaching. It is important that as many people as possible go to the polls then and express their opinions about the direction America should take. But before they can do this, they must be registered. Perhaps Theodore Roosevelt. 26th President of the United States, said it best: "I hear our countrymen abroad saying. "You mustn't judge us by our politicians ' I always want to interrupt and answer: 'You must judge us by our politicians.' We pretend to be the masters ? we. the people ? and if we permit ourselves to be ill served, to be served by corrupt and incompetent and inefficient men. then on our own heads must the blame rest." \ Low voter turnout hurts election process On Nov. 4, 1980, an overwhelming number of eligible citizens ? nearly 74 million Amprirarn ? mario thpir rhniro fnr Proci. dent of the United States. They voted for nobody. Why? Because they didn't vote that day. Were you one of them? You'll have another chance this November 6, 1984. That's general election day. when voters will choose a President for four more years; all 435 Congressmen for two years. * and 33 U.S. Senators for four years, plus a host of governors, state legislators and local ' officials. Notice those words. "VOTERS will choose." Nobody else will, because America s is not governed by the majority; it is governed the majority OF THOSE WHO VOTE And that's the problem. J South Carolina in 1980 had the lowest voter turnout in the nation, with less than half of the registered voters bothering to cast |\ a ballot than NovemDer And only about 65 / percent of those eligible were registered r Nationally, about 55 million Americans t who could register don't do so. And in general only about 75 percent of those eligible I were even registered t Congressman Bill Hendon of N C. lost his g seat in 1982 by 1,325 votes and Congress- t man Tom Vandergrift of Texas won his by only 344. In recent S.C primaries, Sara Shelton of ureenvuie won a nouse seat Dy nine voies and House Speaker Ramon Schwartz faced a runoff because he missed a majority by 13 votes out of 6,000 cast for three candidates. Clinton Mills and The American Textile Manufacturers Institute is urging all citizens, and particularly textile employees to register and vote in this year's elections ueaaiines 10 register in states ot interest to Clinton's people are Alabama. Oct 26 New York. Oct 9. North Carolina, Oct 8, and South Carolina. Oct 9 Voting is not |ust a privilege in this country. it'sa responsibility of citizenship. Every body wants a voice in how our various levels of government operate, but they don't really Register . . I lave a say unless they vote, and do so with inowledge of the issues and the candidates. Registering to vote is just the first step in aking pad in our political and govermental Joshua T. Hamilton Appointed Ind Joshua T. Hamilton, Marketing Planning /lanager, has been appointed an Industry kdvisor to the U.S. Textile Program which is un by the Department of State in Washing on, D C. In his position, Hamilton will advise the J.S. team before and during negotiations >etween the U.S. Government and foreign [overnments who export to this country as hey set quotas on textile imports Hamilton will also work with officials from A m Jrli . . and vote process, but it's perhaps the most important one because you can't vote without it. Vote in 1984 Make a difference in the election process. ustry Advisor other leading textile companies in formulat ing the U.S. position on international agree ments controlling textile treads. He will bring into perspective the position of foreign goods manufacturers to the negotiating process Hamilton's advisory position will give Clinton Mills an opportunity for early input into the negotiating process in an effort to prevent continued loss of its markets as was the case in several past nogotiations. CRAFTED | WITH PRIDE I N AMERICA I