 Despite today's appeal by President Ford, more than half of the people eligible to vote tomorrow probably won't. That kind of apathy is common in off-year elections. In 1970, the turnout was 44 percent. Tom Pennett has been talking to voters in the Northeast about how they're going to vote and about whether they're going to bother voting at all. Here is his report. The bus ride from Boston to New York takes five hours. Five long hours. But that does give you time to find out what bothers people. Here in Massachusetts, I kept hearing about inflation and unemployment. Two voters, a young diet technician from Boston and an older woman from Linn, told me Massachusetts Republican Governor Sargent is in trouble. I don't believe that Sargent has done the best job that he could have done. And I think they need more younger new faces in there and get some of those old guys out. They're near too long. I think one of the biggest problems is the cost of living here. It's very, very high. I agree with her. I think it's the highest around the country. This is Hartford, Connecticut, the state capitol. A Republican governor is retiring and they say here that a Democrat is expected to take over the state house. A woman, U.S. Representative Ella Grasso. But excitement is running low. I will vote for Ella Grasso, but not... I don't think she's that radically different from the other candidates. I think that a woman's touch in the government is something that's closer to a human touch. The New York state line where a new political world begins. New Yorkers tell me a Democrat, Hugh Kerry, will win the governorship and win big. But they say the Democratic tide would have to be enormous to defeat Republican Senator Javits. Most expect him to win. Well, I hope so too. I'm voting for him and I would like very much he should come in. I feel that the people get tired of Javits. I am tired of the crime in New York City. We can't go out at night. We are the tired people. I've been paying much attention to the election. Same political hogwash. It's all hogwash. Same political hogwash as in previous elections. Have you always thought that it was hogwash during elections? Yeah, yeah, sure. You gonna vote? No, I'm not voting. Did you ever vote? I voted a long time ago, but I learned later on that it was useless. Do you think politicians can help change that? Maybe they can if they want to. Maybe they can. Maybe they can if they want to. There's a political organization here in New York campaigning on the slogan, vote for nobody. Well, that sentiment is common around the country, which means democracy is in trouble. Tom Pettit, NBC News, New York. You know, if there ever was a year in which people ought to care about who's elected, this is one of those years. We have both inflation and recession at home and international problems that may be too much, even for Henry Kissinger. Our elected officials will have to deal with all that, but as Tom Pettit found, many people don't care who's elected.