New Jerseyans, much like residents of the other 49 states in the union, have a tendency to complain very loudly and very frequently about the condition of government in their state. While the complaints may be different depending on the individual, one thing is certain: New Jersey is in horrible shape.

Yet somehow, all the voter discontent never seems to translate into more voters showing up to make a difference. Based on 2008 voter registration information, a total of 5,351,669 New Jersey residents were registered to vote. [1] Out of those numbers, their party affiliation breaks down as:

Democrat – 33.3%

Republican – 19.7%

Unaffiliated – 46.9%

Based on the assumption that percentages haven't changed much since last year, that would mean there were approximately 2,836,385 voters affiliated with a party, with 1,782,106 Democrats and 1,054,279 Republicans (totals may be off due to rounding). You may ask, where is the problem?

In the 2009 Democratic and Republican gubernatorial primaries combined yesterday, with 99% of precincts reporting, all of 524,057 people showed up to vote. [2] That's less than 10% of the population of registered voters in New Jersey, and less than 20% of people affiliated with either party.

In a Democratic primary that saw a very unpopular Governor Corzine facing multiple opponents, fewer people showed up to vote in that primary than the top Republican candidate alone, and only 10,000 more than their second biggest vote getter. To put this in perspective, there are about 69% more voters registered Democrat than Republican in New Jersey. It's not as though New Jersey Democrats didn't have many choices this cycle. When all was said and done, the number of people who voted in the Democratic primary totaled less than 11% of the party's total numbers.

I have to give Republicans a little bit of credit in this primary, my last as a registered Republican. A total of 330,012 voters, equal to over 31% of registered Republicans, showed up after what was an intense primary between Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan. I can't give them much credit for their decision to go with the “me too” wing of the party, but the total numbers are more than I would have expected from New Jersey. THAT is the problem.

Since even unaffiliated voters can show up on primary day to vote in one party's primary, and since New Jersey allows voters to request an absentee ballot for any reason at all [3], what is the problem? When 31% is a good turnout in a state that bends over backwards to make it possible for its residents to vote, that's pretty pathetic.

New Jersey was one of the states that got on board with Obama's “Change We Can Believe In” mantra in the 2008 Presidential election, but how much of a change was there in New Jersey's voting habits? We supported the same party we supported in the last four previous elections. Senator Frank Lautenberg, the incumbent, won re-election. Every House seat that had an incumbent re-elected him or her. Every House seat that didn't have an incumbent elected someone from the same party as the departing Representative. You haven't changed a bit!

I used to answer any complaints about government with the question, “do you vote?” I believe it's time to amend that question. When a fellow Jerseyan complains about the condition of our state, my response will be, “did you vote in the last state/local election?” If you're from my state, and the answer is no, it's just as much your fault as it is the fault of the politicians in office.

1. http://www.njvoterinfo.org/

2. http://www.nj.com/

3. http://www.nj.gov/