Low turnout threatens democracy. When the citizens have not come out in large numbers, it means the participation will be low, especially the less privileged citizens. These citizens are already disadvantaged in various forms of political participation, such as representation. They have different reasons why they do not go in large numbers to vote, thus unable to practice their democratic right. Low turnout results in unequal participation, and thus influence on different factors such as passing policies or laws will be unbalanced (Franklin, 2004). Those who do not turnout to vote do not have a representative to air their issues and interests. The official turnout figures usually predict the turnout they expect, and in most cases, the actual turnout gets lower. It affects the results of the election as the anticipated leader may not get the position they hoped for, as was seen with Hillary Clinton not getting more votes, yet she was performing better than Trump in the elections (Hill, 2018).
Democracy is meant to a way of people expressing what their political freedom. However, when a policy or the national elections are ongoing, and a group of people does not find interest in it, they do not go to vote. Such people thus have to leave by the decisions made by the small number of people who voted. Such the voters passed what was prevalent to them, those who decided to abstain should not complain of being denied their political freedom. Not participating in the elections means giving away democracy and allowing others to make political decisions on their behalf (Lutz & Marsh, 2007). When the levels of turnout are lows, it creates concerns since democracy is threatened and decision making left to a few people.
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References
Franklin, M. N. (2004). Voter turnout and the dynamics of electoral competition in established democracies since 1945. Cambridge University Press.
Hill, D. (2018). American voter turnout: An institutional perspective. Routledge.
Lutz, G., & Marsh, M. (2007). Introduction: Consequences of low turnout. Electoral Studies, 26(3), 539-547.
