Representation and Voting

* Re “For Non-Voters, Ballot Offers No Representation,” Nov. 7:

I am a compulsive voter. I have voted every two years since moving to Orange County. In 35 years of voting, I have never once been represented in Congress and I never will be, because I belong to a minority party. I am one of the millions of voters for whom the ballot offers no representation.

Although not mentioned as a factor in low voter turnout, majority rule inhibits voter participation, especially in local and district elections. If you belong to the majority party there’s no point in voting because you’re going to win anyway. Same goes for minority groups--you’re going to lose anyway.

If we were to alter our majority rule elections, which exclude minority opinion, in favor of a proportional representation voting system, such as most European democracies offer, people would have more incentive for political participation. Third, fourth or fifth parties would be meaningful instead of exercises in futility. The arrogance of the party in control would be tempered by the necessity of responding to multiple voter viewpoints.

MARCIA EDWARDS

Orange

* The real reason most people don’t vote is that votes don’t really win elections today, big money does. People aren’t stupid. We realize how little our voices are heard by politicians who seem to spend more time raising money from big campaign contributors than doing the job we pay them to do. And voting doesn’t seem to change anything. But campaign finance reform will.

We need strong campaign reform in California, where today it’s a free-for-all with no limits on the money that flows into politics. Californians who are fed up with big money in politics are working to put an initiative on the November, 1996, ballot that will go a long way in making ideas, values, and character--not money--the deciding factor in the way we elect our government. The Anti-Corruption Act of 1996 would limit campaign contributions to $100, restrict most contributions from outside a candidate’s district, set low, mandatory spending caps for campaigns and crack down on the huge influence of corporations and lobbyists.

JON GOLINGER

CalPIRG’s Committee Against Political Corruption, Los Angeles