Less than half the population is registered to vote, and a large portion of the non registered population are underage. A larger % of registered voters voted this election than did in the past election. That is the beauty of this country. You have the freedom to choose. You can choose to vote or choose not to vote. Voting is not mandatory. That is why the republicans are so gung ho on restricting voters with voter ID laws. The create a solution for something there is not a problem for. People get prosecuted for voter fraud every year. 6-12 convictions yearly out of 110+ million votes cast. This is not an issue. However this has been the stance of the republicans since 1979,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw If you follow American politics when voter turn out is low republicans win when it is high democrats win. America is a center left nation on pretty much every issue.
I do agree people need to wake up and pay attention. The more involved the better things will become. Just here in Michigan, our governor signed a bill that where he can place an "emergency financial manager" in any city that falls below his set financial standards. This person that he appoints supersedes elected officials and can do whatever he or she feels is necessary to get the city in order. The only thing these guys have done is void all union contracts, fire a tons of city workers and brought in private contractors that cost the city more. We turned out to vote in a big way to overturn this policy. All the while hearing our vote doesn't count, we have no power and the usual crap you hear from disinterested people. We got it done because we said enough. The more you know the more you want to be involved to make things better. Hopefully the Bush years and the teabaggers have woken Americans up.