O.C.’s Shrinking Electorate : Less Than 40% of Voters Cast Ballots in Last Week’s Primary

The dictionary defines democracy as government “in which the people hold the ruling power . . . .” Contrast that with oligarchy, “a form of government in which the ruling power belongs to a few persons.”

Last Tuesday, fewer than 40% of Orange County’s voters bothered to cast ballots, according to unofficial figures. In a county with about 2.5 million people, 460,000 decided who would hold power. That’s an appallingly low number.

True, at the top of the ticket, the presidential nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties, there was no suspense. But as the thick election pamphlets sent to voters demonstrated so well, there were plenty more names, offices and issues on the ballot.

One of the more contentious battles in recent years centered on Measure S, whether a commercial airport could be built someday at El Toro after the Marine Corps relinquishes the base. Another important issue was Measure T, which would have converted Orange County from rule by general law to governance by a charter. That measure got on the ballot only after a lengthy series of public meetings convened by a Charter Commission of civic-minded county residents. The group was responding to demands for change after the county bankruptcy.

Two of five county supervisor seats were open; there were elections for judges; in an Assembly district, an indicted incumbent faced a primary challenge from two opponents. Yet with all that, the turnout was still dismal.

There were excuses galore. One claim was that moving the election forward from June to March surprised people. Another is that it’s only a primary; the general election in November supposedly is the one that really counts. One reason that unfortunately probably is valid is that people have become increasingly disillusioned with candidates from both major parties and chose not to vote at all. That would amount to a silent protest.

But the result is that a country that prides itself on being a democracy, and fought bloody wars to maintain that type of government, keeps moving toward letting a shrinking percentage of citizens decide who will hold office. And that dwindling number indirectly decides what laws will govern us.