Wisconsin election participation is good, but it needs to be better

The good news is that Wisconsin ranks 8th in the country in voter participation in elections with 60.9% of eligible voters participating.

The bad news is that Wisconsin ranks 8th in the country with voter participation with nearly 40% of eligible voters not bothering to show up or otherwise participate in the election process at all.

According to the 2020 census, the voting age population of Wisconsin is 4,612,301. When you take 40% of that number it comes out to 1,844,920 people who can’t be bothered to participate in the democratic process.

To be entirely accurate, this is the total population and includes those who have felony convictions (about 70,000 as of the end of 2023) or are ineligible to vote for other reasons such as citizenship status — according to USAFacts.org there are about 308,000 people who live in Wisconsin who aren’t citizens.

Even estimating high on the potential people who are ineligible to vote, this still leaves nearly 1.5 million people who choose not to participate in elections in Wisconsin.

By comparison, just 90,239 votes separated Gov. Tony Evers from challenger Tim Michels in the 2022 governor race. The margin was even tighter in 2020 when 20,682 votes separated President Joe Biden from former president Donald Trump.

Compared to the number of people who actively ignore elections and who go out of their way to not vote, the margin of difference between the victory and loss is a drop in an ocean. In fact, nearly as many people chose not to vote as voted for either major presidential candidate four years ago.

This is appalling.

Throughout the world and across the decades there have been many who suffered and died for the right to have their voices heard and have a say in their government. Yet, in America, the home of the free and the land of the brave, we celebrate that only 40% of Wisconsin residents would rather stay home and remain silent than participate in the election process.

Yay, Wisconsin’s 1.5 million apathetic non-voters is a lower overall percentage of the population than 42 other states. As celebratory statements go that is a pretty pathetic thing to be proud of.

Thanks to Wisconsin’s progressive history, residents here have ample opportunities to participate in elections and the ability to register to vote at the polling places if they so choose without having to tell anyone their party affiliation.

While it is not clear why people would choose to sit out of the decisions that impact them at the local, state and national levels, what is clear is that having such a low voter participation should be unacceptable regardless of where you are on the political spectrum.

As President Abraham Lincoln said, “Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.'