The Importance of Voting (According to the Media)

Former Governor Jennifer Granholm, host of “The War Room, ” makes an argument focused on increasing the Democratic voter turnout. However, Granholm could benefit from some basic economic theory.  She argues:

“You might think you're too busy to vote; or that the partisan fighting makes you nauseous; or maybe you feel your vote doesn't count.”

From an economic perspective, many people are too busy to vote.  The marginal benefit of voting is very low – around $.01 at the national level in a swing state – due to the sheer number of voters.  Marginal cost is substantially higher because opportunity cost must be factored in – a person must interrupt their whole work day in order to get out to the polls to cast their vote.  Just like in the market place, you should only act if the marginal cost equals the marginal benefit for that action.  Therefore, unless you rank the time it takes you to vote (including travel time) at around $.01, you very well might be too busy to vote.  Granholm could also benefit from a math lesson – the chance of a person’s vote mattering is practically zero in a national election due to the sheer number of voters.  If any one person stays home on Election Day, the outcome will not change, so in fact your vote doesn’t count for it will not be decisive.

Whether on purpose or not, Granholm spends a significant amount of her article attempting to raise the perceived marginal benefit through the promotion of civic duty:

“You -- or someone you know -- may be one of those 90 million choosing not to vote. Voting is not compulsory. America is a free country. A free country honored by 1.3 million soldiers who've died since 1775 defending our nation and our precious right to vote.”

However, it is also arguably rational for Granholm to make this persuasive argument.  Johnson (from our reading on Voting, Rational Abstention and Rational Ignorance) makes the argument that journalists have an especially strong “impact on decision making in the political market” including whether or not a person will take the time to vote in the next election. Granholm’s argument -- that voting is not only your duty but not voting is exactly what the other side wants -- could convince more people to vote. While this article alone will not be enough to make a difference in the upcoming election, it’s a start.  If enough people see these types of articles and videos, are persuaded by them and actually vote, while none of their individual votes will make the difference, collectively these votes could change the outcome of the election.