We provide explanations and background information on elections, voting rights and digital democracy
Voter Apathy
Voter apathy refers to a lack of interest in participating in elections by certain groups of voters. One side-effect of voter apathy can be low voter turnout on election day if voting is non-compulsory. In countries or areas with compulsory elections, voter apathy may manifest itself in the form of a high proportion of spoilt ballots or donkey votes.
Two possible causes of voter fatigue are:
Alienation - this refers to the sense that voters feel like the political system does not work for them and any attempt to influence it will be a fruitless exercise.
Voter fatigue - this means that elections are simply deemed to be occurring too often.
After having been through the European Parliament election of 2014, the UK General Election of 2015, and the Brexit Referendum of 2016, a woman responded to the news that Theresa May had called a snap election in 2017: “You’re joking. Not another one! Oh for God’s sake! Honestly, I can’t stand this. There’s too much politics going on at the moment. Why does she need to do it?”