Apathy Keeps Students From Polls

At Harvard, politicians usually get more of a turnout than the football team--but that doesn't mean there's always a huge turnout at the ballot box.

Just ask Ezra R. Keshet, an Eliot House senior who, although registered to vote in nearby Newton, Mass., couldn't find the time yesterday to get to the polls.

"I have such a busy day," Keshet said as he waited for a Fly-by lunch in Loker Commons. "I'm in a play and I have a problem set."

Michael R. Brauwerman '00, of Lowell House, didn't make it as far as Keshet; he isn't registered to vote.

"It requires going somewhere and I just never went. I'm shirking my obligation," Brauwerman said. "I hope I'm not the only one who didn't vote or I'd be a loser."

Other students seemed to suffer from a sort of Harvard-induced anomie.

"I feel so isolated from the world. I'm not connected enough to make a decision," said Lucia R. Henderson '01. Kentucky resident Ben S. Edelson '00 didn't vote yesterday because he is wary of changing his registration to Massachusetts.

"Switching registration for such a short period of time to here is problematic. People have recommended not doing it because it's tough not to have a permanent address," Edelson said. "I haven't really been in touch with Kentucky."

Despite cases of apathy, many Harvard students (and even some in the Fly-by lunch line) did make time to vote.

California native and government concentrator Brent D. Zettel '01 said absentee voting is vital to the political process.

"Otherwise, the same bastards would be running the country forever," Zettel said.

Some, like Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats Co-President Michael J. Passante '99, argued that absentee voting is part of an individual's civic responsibility.

"It's important to express your opinion, even when you can't be there," he said.

His Republican Club counterpart Noah Z. Seton '00 voted with an absentee ballot from New York.

"Even though I live here most of the year, I consider myself a New Yorker," Seton said.

Like Seton, most students had to choose whether to vote here or in their home states. Charity D. Shumway '01 chose to vote by absentee ballot instead of in Massachusetts.

"I feel more involved at home, much more informed," she said.

But some students said they received their ballots too late. Nicole P. Saffold '02 got hers in the mail the day it was due.

"I feel like I've been denied the right to vote," she said

Similarly, Venee N. Tubman '01 did not get her ballot until Saturday, too late for her to participate in the general election.

Government Faculty members have their own take on what drives students to vote.

Assistant Professor J. Russell Muirhead '88 said the rational choice theory of political science states that voting is illogical.

"Because the probability that any one person's vote will change the outcome is slim, it might not even be worth the shoe leather you wear out on the way to the polls," Muirhead said.

But Muirhead said he does not subscribe to this theory and still believes voting is everyone's responsibility--especially in the government department.

"My hope would be that every single gov concentrator would vote, as I would hope they turn in every paper on time," he said.

Faculty members also addressed the issue of apathy among the student body.

Voter decline is linked to national changes in demographics, not recent political scandals, according to Robert D. Putnam, Stanfield professor for international peace and an expert on civic involvement.

"Generational replacement, a.k.a. the grim reaper, each year removes the most civic-minded slice of the U.S. population," as veterans of the World War II era, who are more involved in politics, are replaced by apathetic Gen-Xers, he wrote in an e-mail message.

"Like the waves on the surface of the sea, the long-run tide is clearly out, and each wave makes it less far up the beach," Putnam wrote.

"But however we got here, I really do think that it is dangerous for the country if we cannot reverse the trend. Our task is to turn the tide, not curse at the waves," he wrote.