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I disagree with Neal Milner’s recent take on participation in our state’s democracy (“Let’s Stop Worrying About Hawaii’s Low Voter Turnout”). Milner criticizes those of us who are trying to increase voter turnout as advocates who worship a false idol. He characterizes the use of the term “No Vote, No Grumble” as “the ultimate derision,” claiming we are wishful thinkers, out of touch with reality.

To the contrary, the record shows that many of us who are working in the trenches trying to get people to participate in the democratic process are well informed and aware of the challenges we face in trying to get our communities to believe in the process enough to take part. I am very proud of the committed staff and dedicated volunteers who, in spite of the defeatist attitude of some, continue to believe that an informed, engaged community can, in fact, make a positive difference for Hawaii.

The No Vote, No Grumble campaign has been working over the years to encourage communities to become engaged in civic activities, with voting being only one of those activities. Although we have taken some grief for our title, it is usually quickly brushed aside when we point out that it is a local term used to get a point across, though certainly not to be taken literally.

We know that people will not stop grumbling just because of a name or title. What we try to do is encourage people to become informed and to get engaged. We try to explain how the legislative system works and why people should care and pay attention. We have found that people do care deeply about what is going on and, when given an opportunity, will participate.

Many people I have talked to tell me that they are not voting not because they are too busy, don’t care, or are uninformed, but because they have simply lost faith in our system of government. They no longer believe that voting makes a difference, and many have stated there are no candidates they feel compelled to vote for.

If this does not concern you, then I don’t know what will.

We continue to see fewer and fewer people voting and participating in the legislative process. If there continues to be a withdrawal of our citizens from participation in the only system we have, then what does the future hold for all of us? Lobbyist and special interest groups continue to exert more and more influence over elected officials, and our communities continue to wonder just when things will change for the better.

If there continues to be a withdrawal of our citizens from participation in the only system we have, then what does the future hold for all of us?

Near the end of his article, Milner points out that an “unresponsive government is the problem” and that “citizen involvement is the key weapon to changing this.” On these points we agree. That is why we, and many other civic engagement programs, do what we do.

We are not fooling ourselves or anyone else into thinking that simply getting people to turn out to vote will improve things. Our hope is that by educating our communities about how they can get involved, how they can hold public officials accountable and how they can do those things consistently, we may see some positive changes.

We are not casting judgment on others for not voting, as Milner indicated. We are, however, trying our best to use the civic engagement process to try to provide an avenue for public involvement. We are hopeful that will lead to better policies for all of us.

Certainly things are not going well right now, and most would agree that things could be better. At the end of the day, what concerns me the most about commentary like Milner’s is the idea that low voter turnout is nothing to be concerned about. This way of thinking could lead us to believe that this is the way it is, this is the way it has always been, and this is how it always will be.

Now in my mind, that is really dangerous.