Voting Matters More Than Ever

By Pat McCrea
Published: January 16, 2026
Last updated: January 14, 2026
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Statistics gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau show that over one-fourth of Americans eligible to vote did not participate in the 2024 presidential election (1). This is widely decried by pundits across the political spectrum as a new low in voter turnout in the United States. But a closer examination shows that, rather than the exception, this is the usual voter turnout in the oldest democracy in the world. Here in Tuolumne County, we did worse than the national average; 30 percent of eligible voters in our community chose to sit out the election (2).

There are political and personal reasons why individuals abstain from participating in the most basic form of civil engagement. But many of the reasons result from disincentives, such as Voter ID laws, pre-election registration requirements, and even the day set for an election, that create needless roadblocks for poor and working-class Americans to cast their ballots.

Voters feel disenchanted, with young people particularly at odds with a system that doesn’t reflect their values and concerns. But across all age groups, the two major parties are seen as too similar and indebted to mega-donors rather than their constituents. Voters were turned off by the failure to address global climate change, for example, or by the Democratic and Republican parties’ identical stand on the genocide in Gaza. Citizens have consistently said that they want candidates and policies to vote FOR – not just vote for the “lesser of two evils.”

California’s Secretary of State has a comprehensive website regarding voting. Log on to https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/ to learn how to register to vote or check your current registration, read about any ballot measures that will appear, learn about the differences in political parties and their platforms, check upcoming election dates, and more subjects helpful to voters.

Although we are assured free and fair elections in California, there are still ways to improve voter turnout. Same-day registration, considered the most effective way to increase participation, would allow voters to register and cast their ballot at the same place and time. Other practices are automatic voter registration when applying for a driver’s license, online registration for high school students to ensure eligibility at age 18, restoring the vote to felons who have completed their sentence, and enhancing opportunities for mail-in voting. For years, there has been a discussion to change Election Day from Tuesday to Sunday. Most democracies in the world vote on Sunday, making voting more accessible to working people.

Subscribers to Engage Tuolumne are keenly interested in the 2026 midterm election. It seems as if Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts might be more successful by focusing on several strategies: 1) educate voters in our community on how issues and representation directly affects our lives, since having a stake in the system is the top incentive to go to the polls; 2) use tools provided by the Secretary of State’s office to help people get and stay registered; and 3) conduct voter registration drives to increase the number of voters and move them from “eligible” to “registered.”  It takes effort, but when we commit to involving more citizens in the process, we will see an increase in voter turnout.

Take Action

  1. Register to vote, update your voter registration if you have moved or changed your name, and help others do the same. Review Engage Tuolumne’s “How-To Register to Vote.”
  2. Volunteer to be an election observer. Call Donald McNair, Tuolumne County Registrar of Voters, at 209-533-5570.
  3. Respect and support election officials. Speak out against intimidation.

NOTES

  1. “2024 Presidential Election Voting and Registration Tables Now Available,” United States Census Bureau, April 30, 2025.
  2. “November 5, 2024, General Election Voter Participation Statistics by County,” General Election–Statement of Vote, California Secretary of State.
  3. Gary Fields, “Millions of people in the U.S. don’t vote. Could anything change their minds?” Associated Press, October 8, 2024.
  4. E. J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport, “A Dozen Ways to Increase Voting in the United States,” Carnegie Reporter Winter 2022, September 12, 2022.
  5. Leah Rodriquez, “5 Reasons People in the U.S. Don’t Vote,” Global Citizen, September 2, 2020.
  6. “What a circus’: eligible U.S. voters on why they didn’t vote in the 2024 presidential election,” The Guardian, December 13, 2024.
  7. “How to Vote,” California Secretary of State.