Martha Engber (@marthaengberauthor.bsky.social)

Why People Don’t Vote I was at a farmer’s market recently handing out information about an upcoming election in my state. A man passed by and I asked if he knew about the various issues at hand. He threw up his hands and smiled. “I stopped voting when I was 63,” he said. “I’m 83 now and feeling fine.” I appreciated the brief exchange, because I’ve always wondered why people don’t vote and he gave me a very good reason: his strategy protects his mental health to an apparently significant degree. While his tactic would do the opposite for me by increasing my stress — that my lack of involvement and those of others, deterred a better outcome — the exchange encouraged me to take a closer look at why people don’t vote. https://vigilantpositivity.wordpress.com/2025/10/09/why-people-dont-vote/