The Bright Side of Possibly Lower Turnout

So you think that this year's election would see lower turnout. Is it a bad sign?

Imagine you find yourself on the election day, which also happens to be an official public holiday in Indonesia. You have option of either going to vote or doing something else, like spending time at the zoo, reading the Watchmen, listening to Efek Rumah Kaca, or even just a simple good lazy afternoon nap. What would you do?

The catch is here: That something-else becomes more precious as your wage rate goes up. If your wage rate is higher, you have to sacrifice more money for not working and just reading Anna Karenina.

So on April 9, when you are forced not to work and decide to have these something-else, instead of going to the voting booth like what you did five years ago; it may mean that your wage rate are actually higher than five years ago. (And political complainer literate like you, or pundits in the media, should be happy to know it)

Who would vote then? The ones who are less ignorant to politics and the ones with lower wage rate --who hope election to bring better wage. The former would devote more time and the latter have better incentive to learn relevant information on politicial party and politicians. As a result, a better election quality.