If Texans abide by the mantra, “if you don’t vote, don’t complain,” they should be the least-complaining bunch in the nation. Texas ranked 51st in voter turnout in 2010 — behind the other states and Washington D.C. — and 49th in the number of citizens who contact public officials, according to the study released by the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas at Austin and the National Conference on Citizenship. The state’s slacking continues when it comes to civic participation rates, ranking 43rd in donating and 42nd in volunteering, according to the Texas Civic Health Index. “Some of the numbers are really surprising — maybe even shocking,” said journalism Professor Regina Lawrence, director of the Annette Strauss Institute.
She pointed in particular to figures showing that 61.6 percent of voting-eligible Texans reported being registered to vote in 2010 but just 36.4 percent reported voting.
That means a “really active one-third” of the voting-eligible population is exerting “outsized influence, if you will, on the future of the state,” she said.
The study gathered data primarily from the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey on Voting, Volunteering and Civic Engagement.
Full Article: Texas seen last in voting – San Antonio Express-News.
