Have you ever wondered exactly how the voting process works and what happens once you make that little check mark next to the candidate of your choice? Well thankfully these and many more questions were answered by Ms. Kirk Showalter at the October meeting of the Richmond First Club. An organization that since 1919 has been dedicated to educating the public on a variety of civic issues, policies and hopefully coming up with solutions to these problems. Focusing mainly on issues central to the Richmond, VA community this club has for almost a hundred years provided unbiased leadership and education in an effort to make not only Richmond but Virginia a better and more educated place to live. This was definitely accomplished in Ms. Showalters speech on Wednesday which brought to light all the different mechanisms working…
Voting is important to a democracy because it allows people to decide who will lead the country and what the country will do. To increase participation in voting, the government should make it more convenient for voters. The lack of voters who vote make the legitimacy of the government questionable. Not many people vote because it is not convenient for them. It is possible to conclude that voting isn’t easy for citizens because of the low percentage of citizens who vote.…
Vast amounts of voters have been turned away due to not having the “sufficient identification” to appease the polling workers. In Texas alone, nearly 1.4 million people were disenfranchised by the new voting laws (Rhodan 1). It is baffling that the disenfranchisement of millions is noted as a worthy and justifiable result of “solving” a problem that does not exist. Not only are people being denied the right to vote, but they are also being purged off of voter rolls. Such is the case in Virginia, where 38,000 unsuspecting individuals were thrown off the register due to the new laws (Liebelson 1).…
In today’s society we have all kinds of jobs that require us to leave our hometown that we are living in to go on a business trip of some sorts. We should develop a law that allows us to extend our voting regions. Many people do not go vote because they are out of town the days of elections and simply can’t vote because we are designated only one place only to go vote. If the government would keep track of all the citizens personal data like our name, birthdate, and social security number. They could make all of our state identification cards swipe into a system to let them know we are a registered voter and are able to vote when we go to cast our ballot.…
The Texas Primary Election is officially less than two weeks away. Now is a crucial time for SFA students to get informed about this year’s presidential candidates and their plans for office. “The best way to get the government to respond to your concerns is to be involved in the voting process,” said Dr. Steven Galatas, SFA professor and political scientist. “Know who the candidates are and what they stand for.”…
Should America adopt uniform voting laws/procedures? Chaos. Corruption. Carelessness. All of these are synonyms for what is going in the American voting system, and the way in which it is spread across all 50 states in a state of disorganization, with that said, the voting system needs to be reformed in such a way that the incompetence and prematurity of the voters does not have a chance to bring the system crashing down to its knees.…
The Voice Of America in Chains Voting is a large part of what America is today. “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”. The voice of the people is what makes the big decisions in America and mostly through choosing who will represent us in our government in elections. This makes the vote valuable, because it has the power to make decisions and change outcomes. Although many will argue that Mandatory voting will provide a better representation of the Consensus, it will actually demote civic virtues and limit individual freedoms.…
Alternatives to providing photo identification were also listed, if a provisional ballot is recorded. A voter may provide other means of identification such as the last four digits of their Social Security Number and date of birth (General Assembly of North Carolina Session 2015…
For example, in some elections deceased people and criminals have somehow cast ballots. Another example is people voting multiple times in different states. The voter ID laws also makes it more difficult for people that are not American citizens to vote. Currently, the Texas Voter ID laws have not been appealed or ruled unconstitutional; however, as opposition builds against these laws, there could be a change coming…
There is a much better method, and its implementation would streamline the election process, make everyone’s vote count the same, and elect…
The data on the total number of votes for each election year revealed that states with strict voter ID laws; actually had a smaller decrease in their percentage of total votes, than compared to the states without voter ID laws. For instance, Georgia, Tennessee and Kansas (states with strict voter ID laws), there was a combined decrease in votes by 12.2%; whereas in Illinois, California and New York there was a combined decrease by 16.2%. Similarly, the nation popular vote totals for all six states also showed a decrease in vote’s totals in the 2012 election; but was expected, especially when considering how the 2008 election had the highest turnout rates since the 1970’s. Nonetheless, the data on the total percentages of eligible voters who…
The right to vote is one of the most important, fundamental rights given to American citizens. Yet, rather than seeking to make more convenient and accessible for citizens interested in engaging in the political process, state governments focus rather often focus time and resources on restricting voting and making the process more complex and difficult. States governments have the authority to determine not only who is allowed to register to vote, but also how the process of voting itself operates. Some states require ID just to cast a vote, such as Mississippi, which placed new restrictions on voting in 2016 which require certain forms of photo ID. Other states, for example Nebraska and Florida, place restrictions on early voting by taking…
Arguably, one of the most prevalent reasons for low voter turnout is voter registration. Though voter registration is present throughout the world, there are two main types: self-initiated (also known as “active” or “affirmative” systems) and state-initiated (also known as “automatic” or “passive” systems) (“Voter Registration”). The United States follows the self-initiated method and despite its benefits, it also some legitimate disadvantages. Privacy is protected in this method, since the registration process does not require private information; this system also creates a specific voter list for electoral processes (Roberts, 25). On the other hand, the self-initiated process tends to leave eligible voters out of the process since many people…
Given the increased political power Republicans won in the last elections, from Washington to red-state legislatures, voters might expect the party to feel that the nation’s voting procedures are working quite well. Yet this is far from the case, as triumphant Republicans are using their enhanced clout to continue their campaign playing up the mythical threat that voter fraud abounds in the nation. The newest and loudest zealot in this cause is, of course, President Trump, with his scurrilous claim that millions of illegal ballots cost him a popular vote majority. His baseless claim only encourages the renewed efforts at voter suppression reported to be underway in a score of Republican-dominated statehouses intent on making it harder for…
The election season is one of the most important periods of time for a citizen of the United States. Every four years the country is glued to their television screens or their phones for much of the year as political candidates are named and the announcement of a new president, or a second term for the current president is announced. Opinions on political matters are also shared more often and with higher magnitude as the rise of social media has continued with users able to use share their opinions to a wide audience at any time. Despite all this, the voting turnout for presidential elections and voting on issues has been down for quite some time, especially for the young adult and college student crowd.…