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To the Editor: 

With voter turnout at somewhere around 40 percent of the electorate, that means that 50 percent more people stayed home than voted, and that less than one quarter of the electorate voted Republican. The word “mandate” has lost all meaning. 

Our democracy rapidly becomes meaningless unless citizens take it seriously and participate. I would like to offer a modest proposal. The act of driving a gasoline consuming vehicle has major implications for both domestic and foreign policy. I propose, therefore, that receiving the license to drive be dependent upon accepting the responsibility of democratic participation in the policies that support it. No renewal of your drivers license unless you can prove that you have voted in at least two of the last three elections. 

Tom Lent 

Berkeley