Daily Herald opinion: Obligations of citizenship: Our republic depends on each of us to recognize our duty to be engaged, to be informed, to vote

Along with the party nominations for state and federal office from Illinois, Tuesday's election results contain an irony that strikes at the heart of representative government but that sadly is apt to slip away almost unnoticed.

Voter turnout, as reported in Friday's editions by watchdog editor Jake Griffin, ranged somewhere between 18% and 25% throughout the suburbs. Those figures are generally comparable to the turnout in the 2022 midterm primaries but for the most part somewhat lower than in 2018.

Let us repeat, for emphasis, an observation Griffin's report included from Stephen Maynard Caliendo, a political science professor at North Central College in Naperville: “This is bad news for democracy. This is not a healthy democracy with these numbers.”

Keep in mind, public participation actually is lower than those figures reflect. The turnout statistics are a percentage of registered voters. They do not take into account the number of people who are eligible to register but do not take the time to do so. In the 2024 national election, the non-registered people amounted to 26.4% of the eligible population, according to census.gov. Analysis of the numbers is a bit ballpark, mind you, but if that non-registered figure is reasonably close for the suburbs in Tuesday's elections, that means the turnout of potential voters actually ranged from 13% to 18%.

Given the blue dominance here where a Democratic primary victory is often tantamount to election, that for all practical purposes means Congressmen and probably even a U.S. Senator will be put into office based on the votes of fewer than one out of five people.

Fewer than one out of five. What was that Abe Lincoln phrase? “A government of the people, by the people.” Fewer than one out of five. In some cases, fewer than one out of seven.

Remember the irony we mentioned up top? Let's get back to that:

Even today, President Donald Trump and Republicans are turning over heaven and earth in Washington to try to impose voting restrictions to guard against hypothetical but undocumented fraud, when the republic's real problem is lack of participation. In other words, they are working to make it harder to vote when lack of participation is our biggest challenge. See the irony?

Our most significant problem is not people voting who have no right to do so.

Our most significant problem is people who have the right to do so not voting.

There is a lot to say about this. Too much for one editorial. Our system has a lot of problems and challenges. Too much money in politics. Too much negative advertising. Too many lies and distortions. Too much partisanship. Too many rules that favor our political parties. Too much gerrymandering. Too much time in campaigns. Too many distractions. Too much power in the hands of too few.

That said, to those who would say, “The system is flawed so I refuse to take part,” let us embrace a position articulated by cantankerous political comic Bill Maher: “Freedom isn't free. It shouldn't be a bragging point that, 'Oh, I don't get involved in politics' as if that makes you somehow cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic.”

We as citizens cannot scapegoat. Yes, flaws in the system need correction, but we cannot use that to excuse the shirking we may do of our own responsibilities. It all starts with us.

In a democratic republic, citizenship carries obligations. Those obligations go beyond voting. Voting is essential. All of us should be embarrassed by these turnout statistics. If we're among the non-voters, we frankly should be ashamed. But voting is only a part.

As citizens, we have obligations to be engaged and informed, not just to vote.

Someone who decides how to vote based on a yard sign they drove past or a negative ad they remember is hardly fulfilling the obligations of patriotism in a republic. Someone who accepts a partisan's talking point without healthy challenge, without investigating further, is not fulfilling those obligations. Someone who sees an obscure office on a ballot and then checks an unfamiliar name is not fulfilling them.

As citizens, we have obligations to do more. As citizens, we owe our country and our compatriots and our posterity more.

As patriots, we have a duty to be engaged, to research, to critique, to be informed — and yes, to vote.