Voters Tuning Out Politics

First Read notes voter turnout was “absurdly low” in yesterday’s U.S. Senate special election.

“Markey received more than 640,000 votes — almost half of the nearly 1.1 million votes Martha Coakley got in her losing effort in 2010. And as we’ve pointed out, this low turnout isn’t just in Massachusetts; it has also occurred in Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Virginia. Folks, there’s something happening — an aggressive passiveness has taken hold with the electorate, at least with semi-casual voters.”