Kelly Slater isn’t voting. That fact has been eating at me for a few weeks now. And it’s also a tad ironic since I learned this right after walking through an art exhibit in Venice, California that he had organized specifically to fuel the discussion about this year’s “unique” election. Kelly’s a passionate man and he’s one of the most thoughtful athletes I’ve ever met, but this one missed the mark. And whether it’s a no vote protest, an unwillingness to fall to the “lesser of two evils” mentality talked about so much in 2016, or he simply can’t be bothered to mail in a ballot by November 8, the sad truth is Kelly Slater is really just one of millions of Americans who won’t be exercising their right to vote. He cares. He cares quite a bit about who will be sworn is as the 45th President of the United States on January 20th 2017. Like I said, he just won’t be voting.
But do surfers have a (not) voting problem overall? CNN actually coined the phrase Surfer Apathy in 2012 when exploring why Hawaiians don’t vote. In fact, it’s not even that Hawaiians have poor turnout – the state ranked 50th in a 24/7 Wall Street study of America’s highest and lowest voter turnout rates over the past 20 years. For anybody keeping score, 50th is still dead last in America.
Anyway, the Surfer Apathy logic isn’t very far fetched.
“It’s true that some people are so wrapped up in Hawaii’s beaches and waves that they don’t care about politics,” John Sutter wrote in 2012 only weeks before that year’s general election. “One woman told me politics don’t “flow” in oh-so-laid-back Hawaii. A state representative in Maui said he looks at swell reports before Election Day. If the waves are big, he said, he knows turnout will be low.”
Now, there are a myriad of social and structural issues that contribute to America’s sad voter turnout and no, I’m not dumb enough to believe less than half of registered voters in Hawaii will vote simply because they’d rather surf. But the fact that the phrase was coined in the first place says enough to acknowledge the fact that yes, there are certainly some people out there who would rather rush to the beach before sunset than beat traffic to the polling station.
Nationwide, only about 70% of age eligible citizens are even registered to begin with, according to a 24/7 Wall Street study of the past 20 years. Of that 70%, we can generally expect just half of those people to actually exercise their right when the time comes. So here I’ve compiled a list of the supposed insurmountable roadblocks some citizens will let keep them away from the polls this year, including those who would rather spend their day surfing. Even better, I have a solution for each of your first world dilemmas.
“It’s just voting the less of two evils.”
In the wise words of The Inertia Senior Editor/proud new U.S. citizen Alex Haro says, “Less evil is better than more evil.”
It’s a pretty solid rebuttal to anybody who wants to lean on the logic of not liking their options. But beyond that it’s even more important to remember the headliners on this year’s ballot aren’t the only choices American citizens have a responsibility to make.
Ballotpedia is an online resource that breaks down everything that will appear on your ballot.
You are voting on members of the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, State Assembly Seats, state and local ballot measures, local school board leaders and even your local Chief of Police. All of these decisions and elections have an even greater chance of impacting your life directly than whether or not a Democrat or Republican serves as our next Commander -in-chief.
For example, Californians will be voting on the legalization of marijuana this November, a measure that would ban single use plastic bags and repealing the death penalty, just to name a few measures for 2016.
So have at it, cut out of your oh-so-productive Tinder time today to dig through Ballotpedia here.
“My vote doesn’t count.”
The best way to say it. Photo: StaticBeach.com
To the contrary, when involved in local politics especially, the average American doesn’t give him or herself enough credit for just how much their vote does count. Who represents you on local and state assemblies has a much more specific impact on you as well as the propositions that can influence everything from where your taxes go to creating jobs in your community.
And if you need further proof that a small group of people can make a massive impact with their vote, look no further than the movement simply remembered as Keep Hermosa Hermosa. In 2012 E&B Natural Resources began a legal campaign that could have turned a tiny beach community outside of Los Angeles into a bonafide oil town. Skate shops and surf shops gave away boards for auctions, surfers paddled into the lineup carrying No on O signs and posters for photo ops, artists made banners that were hung on every porch along The Strand, a beachside boardwalk running the length of the 40-block city, and the entire South Bay community came together to send an oil company out of their home. Hermosa is still the awesome little beach town packed with surfers, volleyball players and beach bums, and every once in a while you’ll pass a house still proudly flying a Keep Hermosa Hermosa banner.
So yeah, your vote does count. Because odds are that vote will be directed to at least one proposal that could land in your own backyard.
“I’m too busy.”
Funny enough, voting is actually easier than ever now.
Many states have already passed their respective deadlines for voter registration but the process honestly only takes minutes thanks to the power of the internet. That means yes, you can do this from your smartphone. And if you’re too busy for your smartphone then you’re probably a part of the 65 and older demographic that is turning out to vote in high numbers anyway.
Afraid it may be pumping and offshore on November 8th or you dread that the process may take too long waiting in long lines? There’s always the option to vote early at your county election office before election day, as well as having the opportunity to mail in a ballot from anywhere.
“I’d rather surf…and I just don’t care.”
Seriously, dude?
This September, Patagonia founder Yvon Choinard wrote an amazing essay entitled “Why Voting is Not a Waste of Time.” In it, he argues why the people who would rather spend their afternoon surfing should be in a particular rush to polling centers.
“It’s mostly old retired white men (I’m an old [active] white man myself) who vote consistently,” he wrote. “And they tend to vote against issues like education (their kids are grown up), progressive taxes, the environment and any change or project that won’t be completed until after they are dead.
Only 25 percent of young people (18–30) voted in the recent midterm elections. Most young voters feel disenfranchised and disillusioned by politics, but if they voted in full force, the politicians would have to take seriously their issues, like student debt, fair pay and housing. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of apathy and inaction.
…It is a very serious time in the story of this planet where we have the potential to destroy our natural world or to save this lovely blue planet—our home. The politicians who deny climate change and think they are smarter than 99 percent of the world’s climate scientists are either crooks or dumbasses. So why would you vote for them?”
