How to Click With Those Who See Voting as So Last Century

COMMENTARY

How to Click With Those Who See Voting

as So Last Century

By Catherine Getches, Catherine Getches, 27, lives in Santa

Rosa.

It was Super Tuesday when I realized that the

Urban Outfitters' tee that had at first annoyed me

was actually true. "Only Old People Vote," the shirt

declared in my generation's ironically detached

way. It was true — voting made me feel more of a

nonmember than a participant in the political

process. I cast my ballot in one of the area's oldest

elementary schools, where I signed in with an

election volunteer wielding a magnifying glass.

And when she had trouble finding my name she

joked about alphabet amnesia, having "learned the

ABCs so darn long ago." I took a ballot from a man

sipping from a can of Ensure, and I was handed a

dried-up Sharpie by a silver-haired woman who

kept the cap as insurance on its return.

I wondered if the word "primary" was a nod to the

primitive voting system and if these three

attendants were at this pioneering polling place

when it all began. I pictured my paper ballot racing

to the counting location via Pony Express in time

for that night's results. And for the first time, I wished life was more as it

was on "American Idol." If vast numbers of people can be motivated to vote

for contestants who are simply interested in being heard, why is it so hard to

get people to act in behalf of candidates who have a message?

If I can transfer money via phone, publish photos straight from my

cellphone to the Web and instant-message a vote along with millions of

others to elect an Idol, why can't there be a safe and modern system in place

for selecting the country's leaders? And why do we think the current system

is so safe? At my polling place, no ID was required, just knowledge of my

name. My privacy was subject to the voice level of the attendants, and the

cereal box-like contraption that was to conceal votes from wandering eyes

was hardly fool- or snoop-proof.

When my mom was my age, she voted in every election. At 27, she was

loosening up to rock and roll, but she was also firmly against the Vietnam

War and active in protests. There was incentive to vote, she says, because

men between 18 and 26 could be drafted. These days, "sit-ins" don't really

register, but look at how many of us can come together for no reason. We

meet up in moblogs, our potent expression of cellphone solidarity.

With the click of a mouse, thousands of people can tune in to our online

tirades, where we can expound on everything from our fears to the

consistency of our last caffe latte.

Perhaps we do need something like the plan by state Sen. John

Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) to give 14-to-17-year-olds in California a

fraction of a vote. With less than 4% of the people between the ages of 18

and 29 voting in the last election, it's clear that young people are not being

reached in their medium. My mom often asks: "Doesn't anybody your age

care? Are you all so complacent?" And I counter with what I hear so often:

"What's the point? Where's the incentive?"

In 1990, a few years before I first voted, Rock the Vote seemed pretty cool.

But these days, out-of-date RTV artists like Donny Osmond just aren't

pumping me up for the polls. Today, when I stand in line for a Rock the

Vote concert, all I see is the disconnect between the clipboard-armed Rock

the Vote Street Team outside and the ear-ringing levels of music inside.

The same thing is true of efforts like the competition that asked teams of

teenagers from across the country to devise strategies for presidential

candidates to reach the youth vote. One team came up with handing out

condoms and hairbrushes emblazoned with "Kerry Cares." Another group

created an ad showing the Bush tax cuts paying for DVD players and

Members Only jackets. The competition's sponsor called it "on target" to

have "the president embrace the bling-bling lifestyle."

Wouldn't the money be better spent on electrifying the voting process

instead of trying to prop up the political process with current fads?

If voting were less of a cross between the SAT and going to the DMV and

more like taking an online survey, it might be more appealing. This year is

already a testament to the power of political Web logs and other Internet

enterprises.

Just look at the assertion on Rock the Vote's website: "16% of Americans

who vote are under 30. That's enough to sway an election or two."

It seems that all we need is a medium that meets us on our terms. If the click

of a mouse can charm us to a chat room where even Howard Dean's scream

won't scare us away, then why does getting involved in the political process

feel like being handed an eight-track when you're used to your iPod?

Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times