The United Auto Workers union added a relatively minor provision to its latest contract that could have a significant impact on politics. The 400,000-member organization-which has most of its membership concentrated in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio-successfully negotiated for Election Day to be a new vacation day for all union employees.
Traditionally, UAW members receive a day off around Independence Day to give workers and their families an extended holiday weekend. To compensate, that day has been converted to a working day. UAW leaders chose to shift the holiday so that union members have a greater opportunity to go to the polls on national election days. It is an interesting attempt to boost voter turnout; whether it will work remains to be seen.
The Democrats have been the political party of choice for most union members in the 20th century, and it is not hard to understand why. The GOP, concerned with protecting the interests of big business, initially worked to keep unions from forming, quashed the power of existing unions and passed laws that made union recruitment more difficult. Consequently, the new UAW holiday is viewed as a potential windfall for the Democrats. Of course, rank-and-file members still decide for whom to vote, or whether to vote at all.
However, regardless of one's political affiliation, this should be viewed as a positive change. Election turnout in the United States is shrinking. In 1992, just over half the eligible population voted. In the presidential election of 1996, approximately 48 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. Midterm elections are even poorer-39 percent in 1994 and 36 percent in 1998.
Any initiative that gets more voters to the polls ought to be supported, not discouraged. In Oregon, voting by mail has dramatically increased political participation. A handful of other states amended their voting processes and now allow people to vote before Election Day, sometimes two or three weeks in advance.
But the UAW's action has drawn the ire of some GOP leaders. Gov. John Engler, R-Mich., criticized the automobile industry for agreeing to the new holiday. Engler, who is a union opponent, scolded the automakers, saying that their decision could hurt both their interests and the interests of the Republican Party.
Engler, like many Republicans in swing states, worries about a large voter turnout. Michigan Republicans are hoping for a small turnout to increase the likelihood that the state will go to the GOP in the presidential election, help a vulnerable senator's reelection bid, maintain their dominance of the state legislature and secure approval of a controversial school voucher plan.
Republican actions presume union leaders can always deliver the union vote, but union members make their own decisions-as we saw in 1980 and 1984 when Reagan Democrats helped elect a conservative president. When fewer people vote, Republicans win. Engler knows this, and is worried by the prospect of a large turnout this November.
What scares Engler more than the rank-and-file voting en masse is the possibility that union members might spend Election Day delivering others to the polls. Politically active members may not only vote, but also may help increase the turnout of nonunion members who don't ordinarily vote.
Engler, and some of his GOP colleagues, appear to be voterphobic. This is a curious malady for an elected official in a democracy. When fewer people vote, a candidate who doesn't represent the views of the majority can win. This is not to say that encouraging voter turnout can never go too far-the reported Cook County, Ill. tradition in of voting "early and often," or extending the right to vote to the deceased are examples of overzealousness.
Republicans, who love to talk about liberty, take an elitist and undemocratic stand when they oppose increasing voter turnout. It seems Republicans favor democracy unless it reduces their chances of winning.
Republican voterphobia is not limited to northern industrial states. In Durham County, the recent talk of a city-county merger has generated arguments about when to hold elections. The county government, elected in even-numbered years, has a solid Democratic majority. The city government, elected in odd-numbered years, tilts toward Republicans. The population is the same; the deciding factor is turnout. Members of the city government are calculating their advantage using a simple equation: Fewer people voting equals less democracy, equals more elected Republicans. This is gerrymandering via the calendar.
To discourage voting is to discourage the fundamental principle and definition of democracy-rule by the people. Candidates should support full voter turnout and let their ideas win or lose in democracy's marketplace-the voting booth.
Martin Barna is a Trinity sophomore, associate editorial page editor of The Chronicle and associate editor of TowerView.
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