About 100 million people couldn’t be bothered to vote this year; Washington Post, 11/12/16

Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post; About 100 million people couldn’t be bothered to vote this year:

"That means that 100 million people who have the legal right to vote simply decided it wasn't worth the hassle this year.

Some of these non-voters may have been discouraged by long lines or policies designed to suppress participation among certain demographic groups, like minority voters. But the research, like a 2014 study from the Government Accountability Office, suggests these policies can at most affect turnout rates by a percentage point or two.

In close elections these small differences matter greatly. But in the context of 100 million people deciding to sit it out, they don't mean much. We could be generous and say that inadequate access to the vote could account for say, 5 million of those non-participating voters. What excuse, then, do the other 95 million have?...

If voters in a democracy get the government they deserve, perhaps in the U.S. we deserve a government that doesn't bother to show up."