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Civic Pride An Endangered Species

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It is simply a matter of civic pride and personal responsibility.

The result of this midterm election is embarrassing and appalling. I refer not to the newly elected Republican majority, but to voter turnout -- or lack thereof.

Proportionately, just a third of eligible voters showed up at the polls.

The impact of this election on public policy was not insignificant. Voters would become the cartographers, mapping out future strategies determining immigration reform, the durability of The Affordable Care Act, the GPS for economic recovery and our strategy to defeat ISIS along with our adversaries globally who wish to annihilate us.

Here is the raw data: Total turnout was just over 33 percent.

This midterm was the least representative in modern American history. In presidential elections, turnout ranges from 52 to 64 percent (in itself an embarrassment).

Eighty percent of young people and low income Americans did not vote. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance ranks the U.S. 120thin the world for average national turnout. By comparison, in Denmark 80 percent of the population go to the polls. In Scotland, 84 percent voted during the recent independence referendum. In Australia where voting is compulsory, turnout is even higher.

The vision of a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" is under duress if the "people" fail to exercise what the founding fathers fought so brilliantly and courageously for.

Think about this: In exit polls during the midterm, only 13 percent of voters under 30 participated. It is this demographic who will shape the future of American policy.

Gary R'nel

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