I'm a little concerned that the entire MN network can reach 80%+ compliance with a protocol bump within 48 hours, but that 96 hours after an MN vote is initialized, we still have less than 50% participation...and the voting process is not that difficult (log into VPS, type "./dashd masternode vote yea" and log off VPS).
The vote is open for 2 weeks.
If you look at the Etherum sale, most were sold at the last minute. People were (conjecture) waiting to see what was what.
Then there are those that don't keep up with the threads (or go MIA, see
above).
Being on the wrong protocol means you can get bumped off the network, so I guess people check for some things.
Also, abstain basically = no. What's to say no voters can't be bothered to vote, because they have by default?