US Election: Inequality Stalks the Polling Station

 Income disparity has a profound effect on elections -- but not because voters revolt against it. On the contrary, voting is the pursuit of the well to do. Nine-tenths of U.S. voters with annual family incomes of 75,000 dollars or more cast their ballots, says University of Minnesota political scientist Lawrence Jacobs. But only about one-half of those whose household incomes fall below 15,000 dollars a year turn out to vote, adds Jacobs. As the polls favor the affluent, so do the Republican Party of President George W Bush and the Democratic Party of presumptive challenger John Kerry. ''Both the political parties reinforce inequality by targeting the same class, namely those with money,'' says Jacobs.  [more]

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