Democracy is dependent on quality, not quantity, and simply stuffing the ballot booth is no guarantee the ballot box will reflect wisdom or even self-interest.
Two illusions of democratically-ruled countries were shattered in the early part of the 20th century by the rise of totalitarian movements in the European nation-states. The first was that a modern democracy is always governed by majority decision. What was shown instead is that the politically neutral and indifferent masses can be manipulated and prodded to act against their own interests and, in the proper situations, can easily become the majority in a democratically ruled country, proving that democracy could function according to rules actively recognized by only a minority. And the second illusion shattered by the political involvement of these disinterested masses was the belief that democracy rests upon the involvement and participation of an enlightened citizenry. On the contrary, by drawing the disinterested into the process, and turning it on its head, totalitarianism showed that democracy rests as much on the silent indifference of the inarticulate as on the articulate and visible institutions and organizations of the country.*
Rather than seeking merely to get-out-the-vote, we should instead be far more interested in cultivating an educated citizenry who will act for the good of the nation because it will be in their own interest to do so. Once a people is properly involved and motivated, they'll seek the polls for themselves.
But when we encourage the politically uninvolved to vote we quickly find that such voters can be easily swayed not by reason or self-interest, but by flash & filligree and a little fear for good measure -- perfect candidates for current Republican nonsense, and potential backers of a host of even more unsavory political movements.
*Paraphrased from Hannah Arendt, Totalitarianism 1952.
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