EDITORIAL VOTER ABSENTEEISM LACK OF COMPETITION KEEPS CITIZENS HOME.

FOR each election, the turnout numbers for California voters seem to go from bad to abysmal. The Nov. 7 midterm election was no exception.

According to the California Secretary of State's Office, only about 56 percent of the state's registered voters cast a ballot in the Nov. 7 election. That's the second-lowest turnout recorded for a regular November election in 94 years. Only 2002 had a lower turnout.

In Los Angeles County, the story is even more dismal. Not quite 52 percent of registered voters turned out.

No doubt there are myriad reasons that voters decide to sit out an election. There's work pressure, family responsibilities and sometimes a schedule that just doesn't allow for the time it takes to wait in line at a polling place.

But underlying all the reasons people don't make the time to vote is the real culprit for voter absenteeism: apathy.

Consider, if voters were truly energized to cast a vote, no matter their time constraints, they could cast an absentee ballot as easy as filling out an application for a supermarket club card. But what's the point in making even that small effort when, in a very real way, their vote doesn't count? Not in California.

The political system in the Golden State has, for all intents and purposes, weeded out real competition for most elected positions. The rigged political districts mean that certain parties and their anointed will win. Many smart potential candidates don't even try.

Locally, this plays out in the lack of candidates willing to take on the time and expense of a race against an incumbent. For example, two of the seven Los Angeles City Council members seeking re-election in the March election are running unopposed. With few exceptions, the rest face token opposition and are expected to win handily.

This could change if political leaders actually put the public interest ahead of their own private interests for a change. Hopefully, in 2007, they will make good on their promise to develop a plan for redrawing legislative districts to make them more competitive.

Without that, the state of our democracy will increasingly be undemocratic, and voters will increasingly disengage.