Too busy to vote? Or just plain uninterested?

That appears to be the attitude in part that helped shape Hawai'i's dismal voter turnout.

A tad less than 53 percent of those registered to vote this time around actually made it to the polls. That means 348,299 people have determined who will help shape our future regarding everything from education policy to economic development to land use issues. That's the lowest turnout in state history, and flat-out embarrassing.

Given the partisan divide, not just locally, but on a national level, it's easy to understand why voters have lost both interest and confidence in the political system.

But despair and disinterest are not the right building blocks for a vibrant democracy.

Many argue that voting must be made easier: an extension of the mail-in process; more accessibility to polls, with some suggesting the ability to cast a ballot at supermarkets or fast-food joints; and an even earlier start for the absentee voting process.

Of course there's merit to making the process less cumbersome, provided proper safeguards are in place to ensure the integrity of the process. But let's not forget that folks have fought long and hard for the right to vote; convenience and expediency have never been what democracy in America has been about.

Voting should not be relegated to a chore; it means much more.

Now, in Hawai'i's case, the 348,299 voters are the ones charting the course for a state of more than 1.2 million residents. And we'll have to live with that.

It's not a statistic we should be proud of, nor is it the right message we want to send to our children and young adults as they prepare to be the civic leaders of tomorrow.

We must do better.