[speaker001:] why do you think so few people vote then
[speaker002:] why do I think so few people vote I I think a lot of it is uh apathy um um for example uh when things are going good I think the voter turnout is less just because people figure why bother you know what's the difference especially when two candidates seem roughly equal um and in others cases you know they they see themselves as one voter in a million and they think what difference is it going to make whether I vote or not they they feel like one vote doesn't have an impact
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and I think a lot of cases like a lot of our minority issues the we had the ten four one verses the fourteen one election here in Dallas a while back and it lost well that was decided by a very small margin um and there were a lot of of minorities that wanted it to go the way that it didn't go but they also had very low voter turnouts especially like in the Hispanic community and I think in that case they've just they developed a distrust of the system and so they've chosen not to participate in it
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and I think that's part of it
[speaker001:] what part what part would you say the big brother aspect plays the people that don't want to be called for
[speaker002:] what do you think
[speaker001:] jury duty or or things that they've heard that says you know well they use this registration for this purpose or that so they just don't bother
[speaker002:] oh I've I've heard people say that I know it's it's a real thing and I think it makes a difference as to how many people vote apparently not being a citizen not not serving on jury duty is important enough to them that they don't want to have any say in uh politics
[speaker001:] hum okay and then what about the smaller election say some of the city elections uh even down to the uh school board type uh elections I guess there are so many that you can uh weed out the ones that you really want to partake in
[speaker002:] yeah yeah well last November was my first election in Dallas I've only lived in Dallas a little over a year and I went down this long list of judges that I was voting for and I mean I didn't know anything about any of these races I didn't know what the responsibilities of the judges were I didn't know anything about the individuals who's names were on the ballet and I'm going you know how can I possibly make an informed choice here
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] so what's the point in voting for these people I I mean it you know I get just as good of results as if I through darts at a board
[speaker001:] right well it's a shame that uh that even the politician who wants to give give out good information about himself uh has trouble in virtually everything he does say that's positive or or even mediocre gets attacked from the other side such that he spends more of his time defending than he can putting forth any decent information uh and then once you get off the candidate's personal information then you want to get into an actual issue and then how the candidate feels about that
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] there's there's very little room for or very little time to handle all the different things you'd like to know about a candidate and then unfortunately after you do get some of that information you may find out it weren't true to begin with so
[speaker002:] yeah you you think then that uh part of it is because the uh it flashes too much on the personal uh characteristics of the candidate rather than his uh job performance issues
[speaker001:] I would say that it's much easier to deal with the the the public the uh media that's that's giving the information to the public is much easier to deal with uh any personality quirk or any negatives that they've found or any skeleton in the closet
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] than to try and first educate the public to the point where they can listen to either side of a given issue
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] uh and it's pretty difficult to deal with some of the issues lets say that Texas uh Texas State uh Railroad Commission has to solve when you don't even fathom what the implications are of they're decision so who would you care who got in that position you know
[speaker002:] I'd I'd say yeah I'd say there's a large number especially of urban young voters that don't know what the Railroad Commission does
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] and so they go you know who who who what does it matter who I vote for
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] I think well that's one thing I've noticed I've I've lived a couple of different places I've noticed Texas seems to have more elective offices than any place I've ever been
[speaker001:] so hence more apathy I guess or confusion
[speaker002:] well a lot more confusion you know I in in other towns I've never called upon to decide all this long list of judges I've never been called upon to decide you know we're we're voting for Railroad commissioner and and uh Land commissioner and that sort of thing and in other state these would be appointments of the governor
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] we wouldn't be expected to cast a ballet on the subject
[speaker001:] hum boy that makes the governor's vote a whole lot more important doesn't it
[speaker002:] well it does
[speaker001:] yeah a lot more appointee's I guess makes him carry a lot more weight
[speaker002:] um-hum but it also means you've got a unified state government you don't have different departments pulling against each other
[speaker001:] that's probably well worth it then it probably be worth it just to do away with the cost of the elections and uh put it in the hands of maybe one man who can at least get his party together
[speaker002:] yeah yeah  so hum the the the big problem I guess with the the mass media is you know uh you don't have time to educate the public on these matters because the public is not going to sit still and soak the message in
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] I mean anything that can't be covered in thirty seconds or less they're not going to care about it
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] or or if you can't dramatize it and put it on Unsolved Mysteries then they're not going to you know they're not going to want to hear it
[speaker001:] do you find it convenient to vote the actual time of day type where you have to go and the line you have to stand in
[speaker002:] uh the the line what I waited maybe ten minutes in line it was it was uh a minor inconvenience it was certainly worth it to me I think
[speaker001:] did you go early in the morning or
[speaker002:] I went right after work so that was when the line is the longest
[speaker001:] after work hum that's interesting well where in my little district fortunately it is literally across the street I could walk over there as it were we live across from the school and so we
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] I drive out of my complex early in the morning and go over there usually before the polls even open and and vote right at the you know number one or two sometimes the third or fourth person in in line
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and I wait longer to to watch them set up than I do actually in the in the line itself but that gets me out of there at a time that I can go down Central and not be bothered by the the traffic as it were
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] because normally I'm I'm at work before seven so uh just stay a little later that as it were and and make the the effort to vote uh but unfortunately since there are so many other things that uh our city wants to vote on
[speaker002:] hum
[speaker001:] they don't they they tend to make the elections if it's a not important election as it were they only open a few of the poles so I don't always I don't always vote at the same place so it's a little bit more trouble for me to well this election's going to be held this date and I've got to go over here
[speaker002:] so you have to go a little out of your way huh yeah yeah
[speaker001:] and I've got to remember uh you know on this election I'm in this district in this election I'm for here and uh you know this precinct votes here
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and I would just assume in holding still and all vote in the same place as many times as they want
[speaker002:] yeah yeah I would also like better information on on what on you know what am I voting on and and who just some general statements about the candidates I guess this is the kind of thing you expect from the newspapers
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and I didn't see much of it like you know I see you saw a lot about the major races but a lot of the minor ones that you're being called upon to decide there's very little information on
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] as far as you know what what is the duties of this political office and uh and what are the characteristics or what what are the issued statements and uh spoken goals of the uh candidates
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] I'd like to get
[speaker001:] probably wouldn't even hurt to have a section that says here's how this particular office affected you or could have affected you over the last several years you know these are the kinds of decisions that this particular judge or this particular uh Railroad Commission for instance does
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] if if you know if he he does do something or you pay attention to this or this is the guy to to blame for this if uh you didn't like what happened
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] you are right there is no uh no such deal other than the small publication that uh uh League of Women Voters puts out it supplements that newspaper that I get a local newspaper they they published but uh nothing per se in the major newspaper and as hungry as they are for things to print you'd think they'd want to do that
[speaker002:] yeah well they the Dallas Morning News did publish a a section that covered the major races and it explained a lot to me about the individual candidates and helped me make a lot of better informed decisions but still uh you know it it left a lot of the the the local races the races unique to my precinct uh up in the air there is one thing that that did annoy me and that is the the my congressman last fall didn't have anybody running against him so basically I had no choice
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and I think uh in some districts you know there's a a party one party or another that has such a lock on it that uh you know why vote when it's decided already
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] that sort of attitude
[speaker001:] that's true with so many elected officials I guess there's just so many people to go around in some of those cases
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] hum well I hear someone calling me so I better let you go
[speaker002:] well we used the five minutes up
[speaker001:] yeah at least bye
[speaker002:] okay all right bye