Jean Gibson has voted in past presidential elections but does not plan to this time. The 43-year-old suburbanite, who manages a group home for the disabled, considers Michael S. Dukakis too liberal and George Bush too conservative. Both candidates, she said, should be ashamed of the way they've campaigned.
"In 1980, after I voted for (Jimmy) Carter, I said to myself I would never again vote for the lesser of two evils," she said. "It's sad, the quality of people we're putting in office."
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There is no single reason why nearly 50 percent of the 183 million Americans old enough to vote on Election Day are expected to stay home. Some are too content to bother going to the polls; others feel too financially and emotionally strapped to care. Some are not interested in politics; others do not like the candidates. And some would vote, but they forget to register.
Whatever the causes, fewer and fewer eligible voters are casting their ballots. Except for a slight increase in 1984, when the two major political parties waged an unprecedented registration war, turnout has decreased steadily since 1960, when 63 percent of adult Americans voted. The turnout rate this year could drop below 50 percent for the first time since the 1920s.
Young adults are the most noticeable dropouts. Only 40 percent of 18-to-24- year-olds said they voted in the last presidential contest; just 22 percent reported voting in the 1986 midterm elections. While turnout rates for older age groups are higher, they also are below past levels.
Indifference is increasingly being cited as a reason for the decline.
When pollster Peter Hart interviewed young non-voters in Maryland over the summer, he found that many were concerned about drugs, homelessness and other problems but didn't view government as a way to address the issues.
Asked to describe government officials and politicians, they used terms such as "corrupt," "underhanded," "big mouths," "liars" and "pushy."
