Perish the Thought!

Commenting on a failed British effort to get greater voter turnout with mail-in ballots, the Guardian notes that problems with voter fraud arose without any significant upturn in voting. (There was an increase in votes cast within test areas, but a similar increase occurred in other areas.) They suggest a different reason for low voter turnout than persistent claims of voter apathy:

Yet, according to a four-year study of the reasons behind falling turnout made by the Constitution Unit, people are not turned off politics, as politicians like to believe. Young people in particular remain full of idealism. It isn't politics that is at fault, it is the politicians. Voters trust them less than ever. And, says the Constitution Unit, trust is the most important element in political engagement - trust that politicians will keep their promises, and trust that they will behave with propriety.