Wherever you turn, there’s no shortage of strong opinion on national politics. This week’s letter section contains three letters about those politics.

Our daily news cycles on cable, print and online mediums are consumed with political coverage now more so than perhaps at any other time. The presidency of Trump has much to do with it, from the polarizing way he’s governed to the reality show “sensibilities” he’s employed while in the White House.

And yet, despite the dramatic ways in which the Trump presidency has highlighted just how extreme the results of a national vote can be, and despite the evidence that many of us are happy to share strong opinions about that, many Americans remain unconvinced that it’s a good use of their time. In a poll released last week by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic, only 50 percent of eligible American voters said they were “absolutely certain” to vote in this year’s upcoming midterm elections.

Amazingly, the poll found that only 28 percent of young voters – those between the ages of 18 and 29 – said they were absolutely certain they would vote. Conversely, 74 percent of seniors said they were certain to head to the polls this November.

The poll isn’t guaranteed to be a true forecast of what voting will look like in this year’s midterms. Turnout in 2016 was roughly 55 percent, which beat polling numbers that similarly supposed a 50 percent turnout.

Yet, it is still amazing to me that so few people would say they were certain they would vote. The ramifications are a government that doesn’t necessarily reflect the will of the broader public. Young voters are thought to be more inclined to vote for liberal candidates, but if they can’t be fussed to make it to the polls, those same people shouldn’t be surprised by results.

There are numerous explanations for why many of us aren’t eager to go to the polls. Liberal leaning voters told poll takers that there was too much money in politics. Conservative voters said there was too much media bias. Both share a general lack of trust for the institution of government. Many find it tough to get excited to vote when they’re not sure that vote matters.

But more than partisan politics, low voter turnout should be something about which we, as the country that started modern democracy, should be a bit embarrassed. In a country where we like to say things like “freedom isn’t free” and we cherish our rights of all things – from guns to speech – it makes little sense that we wouldn’t exercise the most fundamental freedom we have: to hire our government officials and hold them accountable.

Pete Mazzaccaro