Alex Glatfelter 315
11/09/2025 6:46 PM
In Pennsylvania, and in York County in particular, voters are discouraged from participating through manufactured doubt, fear-mongering, and election misinformation, as well as practical barriers like limited transportation and the inability to take time off work. These mechanisms suppress turnout. Locally, figures such as Representative Seth Grove and right-wing influencer Scott Pressler amplify distrust of the electoral process with vague claims that are not backed by data.
To reduce these barriers and foster an engaged electorate, we should move from a single Election Day to an Election Week, maintain and streamline no-excuse mail-in voting for those unable to vote in person, and ensure people have the resources, reliable transportation, paid time to vote, and accurate information, to participate. We should also expand direct democratic channels in policy-making to rebuild trust by giving people real leverage over outcomes.
This raises the larger question, can such reforms fully succeed within a capitalist framework that systematically produces economic inequality and, by extension, political inequality? My answer is no, a system organized around surplus extraction concentrates wealth and power, then uses that power to define the rules of participation. By contrast, a democratic ownership model, public and cooperative ownership of key sectors, participatory budgeting, public banks, and universal guarantees like paid voting time and free transit, aligns decision-making with those who create social value. It removes the structural incentive to depress turnout, replaces scarcity politics with shared provisioning, and makes political voice a right rather than a privilege. In short, abolishing capitalism in favor of democratic ownership is not only morally appealing, it is a practical path to removing the barriers the ruling class imposes and making participation genuinely universal.