Washington. -- It is already obvious that the 1996 elections will determine how far this nation goes in wiping out the social programs that began during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt -- what Republicans call ''the welfare state.''
As we lurch into the 21st century, these elections will determine the endurance and sweep of the ideas of men like House Speaker Newt Gingrich, or presidential candidates such as Bob Dole of Kansas or Pat Buchanan of nowhere.
That is why the critical question is who will vote, who will go fishing on Election Day, and who will not even register and be eligible to cast ballots that influence the future.
From the founding of this country, those with power and privilege have always tried to limit the number of voters. Some insisted that only the propertied vote. Others said only the literate or ''well-educated'' deserved the ballot. Still others denied the franchise to all women or to all blacks.
Even with those barriers removed there have been efforts to make it very inconvenient for the less-privileged to even register. That's why in 1993 Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act, which allows people to register to vote through the driver-licensing process, by mail, and at places commonly used, such as welfare offices.
There has been incredible resistance to this law by some states that claim it is a costly ''unfunded mandate'' that infringes on state's rights. The U.S. Justice Department has just filed suit against Virginia, the sixth state -- after California, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and South Carolina -- to defy it. Federal courts in California, Illinois and Pennsylvania already have held that this Motor Voter law is constitutional.
All the evidence so far indicates that the law works. It is important for Americans to understand why they should be glad it does.
About 70 million of this country's 190 million-plus eligible voters are not registered. While other democratic nations such as Canada, Germany, Sweden and Australia regularly get turnouts of 70 to 90 percent of eligible voters, only about half of eligible voters in the U.S. typically go to the polls in presidential elections and 30 to 40 percent in Congressional elections.
