I sense some broad-brush statements here, with a tinge of self-righteousness thrown in for good measure.
As I see it, there is voting and there is voting, and there is not-voting and there is not-voting.
Let's say I review my ballot ahead of time on-line, or through a mailing. I see there are no referendums (or none I care about one way or the other), there are no seats where I feel one candidate is any better/worse than the other. Fueled with this information, I decide not to waste the gas to go vote. In some small way (and maybe a larger way than a puppet voter), I am expressing my disdain with both candidates with a non-vote.
Someone else may walk into the polling place, do no homework whatsoever, and vote based on who knows what, likely voting the 'wrong way' on some referendum that might be worded in a complex way (we had one with about 3 negatives stacked, you really has to study it to understand what a "yes" or "No" vote meant). So this person gets to brag that they performed their civic duty, and their opinion carries more weight than mine? I don't agree. Looks more like Kabuki theater to me.
-ERD50