Letters: Low voter turnout's appalling

I was appalled by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's comments blaming low voter turnout on President Barack Obama ["Cuomo blames lower vote count on Obama," News, Nov. 7].

From Cuomo's perch in Albany, where he only thought of his own re-election, which was really never in doubt, he let other hardworking Democratic candidates go it alone without his long coattails. Arrogantly, he stated: "You know what? State Senate, it's hard to motivate people about a State Senate."

If that's so, his support was sorely needed. When I ran for State Senate in 1974 -- the first woman to do so from Suffolk County -- Gov. Hugh Carey and Lt. Gov. Mary Anne Krupsak ran with state candidates. Some of us lost, and some of us won that year, but we ran as a team, knowing that it takes more than a governor to make the wheels of state government run smoothly.

I suggest that Democrats were not motivated this year, not only because they assumed the governor would win, but also because of his hubris. The slide in voter support in his own vote tally, and the nearly 5 percent that Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins received, should make Cuomo realize that there's something rotten in Albany -- and Washington is just a pipe dream.

Christin M. Veech, Commack
 

My bright idea to increase voter turnout is to reduce taxes by $100 for everyone upon proof that they met their civic duty as Americans to vote. Leave those who don't vote to pick up the extra tax bill.

Leo Montagna, Northport
 

New Yorkers should be ashamed. The statewide turnout was estimated at 33 percent of registered voters. That doesn't even take into account eligible residents who failed to care enough about their country to register to vote.

What happened to our democracy? Remember democracy, that way of life that we valiantly try to impose around the world? The Republicans have been proudly announcing that the people have spoken. I don't think so.

In the 1st Congressional District, only 37 percent of registered voters cast ballots. The way I look at it, there's a room filled with 100 people, and only 20 of them voted for Lee Zeldin for Congress. In simple mathematical terms, 20 out of 100 people decided that election.

There are a lot of complainers out there, but I really don't think they have any right to complain unless they were part of the 33 percent who voted.

Heather Reylek, Shelter Island
 

To all the senior citizens who didn't bother to vote in the recent election, shame on you. You'll have to be satisfied with the small increases that will be made in your monthly Social Security checks. You have no right to complain if you didn't care who was elected.

If everyone is allowed to walk around with concealed weapons or carry assault rifles, so what? You didn't care enough to vote. When your taxes are increased while corporations get millions more tax dollars for research and tax cuts, again, don't complain. You didn't bother to vote.

Douglass Robinson, Levittown