Too few Hoosiers vote. They see through the illusion of choice.

“Your vote counts.” “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.” “Your vote matters.” “Your ancestors shed their blood, sweat and tears, some even died for your right to vote. You honor them by voting.” I’ve heard those words in one form or another throughout my lifetime. I’ve repeated those words time and again to those who tell me they don’t vote. I was raised to believe voting is your civic duty and it’s how you effect change. I still believe that, but now I understand why people become disillusioned with voting and our political system. Once you see the behind-the-scenes machinations of parties and politicians, you realize it’s more complicated than the lessons we learned in high school government class.& The cold, hard truth is sometimes your vote doesn’t matter — or that’s how it feels. It’s not just voter suppression efforts such as& gerrymandering where cracking and packing& diminish voices and feed apathy, but it’s also gatekeeping by political parties that creates few choices, making it harder for voters to see why they should care. Limiting choice The& recent death of Sen. Jean Breaux& is an example of voters being left out of the political process. Before Breaux’s death,...