02/22/12: What happens when voters stay home

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

ELECTIONS HAVE consequences.

Did you catch “Saturday Night Live” last weekend? In a relatively short period, Virginia has become the laughingstock of the nation.

The latest to draw the attention of national political pundits is the bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound prior to having an abortion. Many of those ultrasounds would have to be performed transvaginally because the fetus in the first trimester is too small to be seen on an abdominal ultrasound.

The law as proposed — House Bill 462 and the identical Senate bill 484 — provides no relief for the victims of rape or incest.

Even without knowing these two things, a majority of Virginians surveyed — 55 percent — oppose an ultrasound, according to a poll conducted by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.

This arrives on the heels of House Bill 1, better known as the “personhood” bill. That legislation would define life as beginning at conception. Mississippi voters rejected, by a wide margin, a nearly identical proposal in November that would have amended that state’s constitution. I wouldn’t normally compare Mississippi to Virginia, except that the Wason Center poll indicates a majority of Virginia voters don’t support the measure either.

If this weren’t enough, how about some gun bills? Receiving the most attention is Senate Bill 323, which would eliminate the prohibition on purchasing more than one handgun in a 30-day period. This limit was put in place when Virginia was a gunrunner’s paradise. Two thirds of those surveyed support retaining the ban. No matter — the bill has already passed the Senate and is well on its way to passing the House.

In fact, all of these bills and a lot more like them — silent protests and online petitions notwithstanding — will probably become the law in Virginia.

Because elections have consequences.

Last November, all 140 seats of the General Assembly were up for election. Despite that, voter turnout was a paltry 28.61 percent, even less than what it had been in 2007, the last time the entire legislature was up for election.

Think about it: More than seven in 10 Virginia voters didn’t even bother to participate. It should be no surprise that those elected to represent all of us actually, well, don’t.

Part of the problem was the lack of competitive races, the direct result of partisan redistricting. Despite the efforts of many, the topic of redistricting and its effects on us simply was not embraced by the majority of folks.

So we are where we are.

The majority of us don’t want invasive medical procedures mandated by our government. The majority of us don’t want to define life as beginning at conception. The majority of us think one handgun a month is enough.

But the overwhelming majority of us didn’t bother to let our voices be heard.

Decisions are made by those who show up.

John Stuart Mill’s essay, “On Liberty,” warned of the tyranny of the majority. What we are experiencing in Virginia today is equally troublesome for our representative democracy: the tyranny of the minority.