Vote, or Die.

Another primary week has come and gone, and another abysmally low number of people have voted. There are 921,736 registered voters statewide in New Mexico. 261, 735 of them, about 27%, bothered to vote in Tuesday’s primary. In California, the numbers were worse. There, in the most populous state in the country, 22% of the electorate showed up.

Who is to blame for this mess? We all are, but we also have to recognize that these dangerously low participation rates are harming our democracy, distorting representation, and allowing bad actors to seemingly effortlessly influence elections. We need to make the point, over and over: you have to vote. Russians may have used Facebook, but they would be less successful if more people voted. Potential voters seem to have good intentions: huge numbers of people register to vote, but then fail to do so. Why?

There are a number of factors that we can look at. We have discouraged active civic participation because of the increased demand of time that making a living requires. We have eliminated Civics as part of school curriculums, in favor of STEM programs. We have an electorate that sees conspiracy and subterfuge at every turn.

The surprise election of Donald Trump resulted in huge numbers of neophytes flooding into the political system. Mostly Democrats, these newly engaged citizens chose to create organizations outside of the existing party structures. Many of the groups, like Indivisible, were purposely non-hierarchal, relying on an ad hoc structure. Their purpose was to influence currently elected politicians — the most that could be done when there were not elections. Yet, many of their goals, lofty and hypothetical, are impossible to achieve with the current political make-up. We will not accomplish health care for all, or change the Electoral College without consensus, and probably not without amending the constitution. These groups need to leave their ivory storefronts and take to the streets, to organize, to get enough voters to achieve their goals.

What can be done? We need to make it socially unacceptable to not vote. We need to encourage not just voting, but active and engaged participation among all age groups in civic life. We need to raise the overall level of knowledge about government, and we need the knowledge to be correct — we cannot allow the perpetuation of myths. We need a basic “vocabulary of Democracy,” that everyone understands.

We might also consider adding some requirements to encourage people to register. One obvious step would be making being a registered voter a requirement of graduation from high school, and certainly college. There might be issues with public institutions, but certainly private schools should consider these steps.

Most importantly we need our politicians to actively encourage voting. Tip O’Niel, the late Speaker of the House, always told the story of how on the day before Election Day he would go to each of his neighbors, and ask them to vote for him. On the day after the election, he would to again, and thank them. “People like to be asked, and they like to be thanked,” he pointed out. Politicians need to get more voters to vote. They, the politician, need to actively court the voter.

We need to stop allowing myths to be sent around Facebook. National parties do not choose candidates, voters do. There Is no grand conspiracy to direct local elections from headquarters in Washington. The vote that you have is your vote. Your ability to organize, to find like minded people to support a candidate, is possible only on the ground, in towns and neighborhoods. It is work. It is hard. It takes some time. But, it is required to attain a goal.

We need to talk about these terrible and dangerous voter turnout levels. We need to say, “We need 70% turnout,” over and over. We need citizens to understand that their role, as voter, is the most crucial role in a democracy. We need to get people to understand the immense power of their vote, and how to use it.

Congressman John Lewis, who almost lost his life fighting for his fellow Americans to get their right to vote, said it best:

“The vote is precious and sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have,” he said. “There are some in this country who still seek to deny some of us our right to vote. We can fight back by exercising that right.”