We are living in a democratic society where struggles were endured so that our decisions are made by ourselves. In that case, is it not important that we strive for the highest voter turnout to ensure that all the voters are properly…
In the book By the People by James A. Morone and Rogan Kersh, it goes on to talk about how the voter turnout in the U.S. is lower than a lot of other industrialized countries. We know this because it says that, “The united states has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the world. Most stable democracies register voter turnout rates in the 65 to 80 percent range, far higher than America's. In one of the top five countries, Australia, voting is compulsory- required by law. In the U.S., while a high percentage of registered voters turn out to vote, a much lower percentage of the voting age population is actually registered to vote.…
In America, citizens are given the right to vote and elect officials into office. At the age of eighteen, young adults are allowed to register to vote and take part in elections. Not all citizens participate and decide to vote. When Americans decide to exclude themselves from voting, they initially are negatively impacting society. Thomas Patterson takes his stance on this when he wrote “The Vanishing Voter”.…
The electoral system could be one of the elements as well. Due to the winner take all system, voters are more likely not to vote if the outcome is pretty much predictable or the election is dominated by one candidate in the state. Elections in the United States are held on Tuesday, which is a working day. Working class might not be available to vote on this working day so the turnout is further reduced. The voter-suppression campaigns discourage low income, less educated and working-class Americans to…
“Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good. ‘Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson There are 218,000,000 eligible voters in the U.S. In the last election only 126,000,000 Americans voted, that's only about 55%. I think that more Americans who can vote, should vote.…
Voter turnout in Texas is among the lowest in the nation. Age, education, demographics, gender, race, and wealth are just a few key factors put into play when researching why people choose not to vote. There are many things that can be done to increase the voter turnout in Texas as well as many reasons as to why it is so important for citizens to vote in national, state, and local elections. Age is an important factor in voter turnout. Younger adults are less likely to vote while older adults are more likely to vote.…
Since the beginning of the 20th century, American voter turnout has declined. A factor for this outcome is the individual belief that voters can’t make an impact on the government, but there are conventional and unconventional ways to influence the political process. Citizens can conventionally vote, write letters/emails to their public official, and make phone calls to their representatives to inform them about certain situations or alert them about public needs, or they can recall someone from their political position that is not representing or hearing them. Also, citizens can participate unconventionally by supporting boycotts and participating in protests, marches, and sit-ins. For example, during the Vietnam War, an anti-war protest arises.…
Georgia voter participation and voter turnout have varied over the years. Georgia is one of the strongest opening states to require a picture ID to cast an in person ballot and make it count. Nevertheless, photo ID is not commanded to cast an absentee ticket in Georgia. A number of residents of Georgia strongly supported the voter ID law to attack fraud during the election process.…
A troubling story that has not gotten much attention this election season — or any recent one, for that matter — is why a certain group of roughly 5.3 million Americans won't be allowed to vote. It isn't because they're underage or non-citizens or mentally incompetent. It isn't because they're unregistered or physically unable to get to the polls. It isn't even because they're limping around with a chronic case of political apathy.…
Creating laws that force citizens to the polls on election day, and subsequently punishing violators of the laws, is not a viable solution to increasing voter participation. Creative alternatives, such as electronic voting, changing the voting day, and education could increase voter participation without infringing on the constitutional rights of citizens. According to Constitutional scholars, the concept of compulsory voting is a direct violation of United States citizens’ 1st Amendment rights.…
The United States of America are among the lowest amount of voter participation. Some people think the answer is compulsory voting, but is that the right idea? No, Americans should not be required to vote because it goes against our rights and is time consuming, it decreases voter satisfaction, and it increases the amount of uninformed voters. Compulsory voting may be the answer to other countries problems, but not the US. Americans should not be required to vote because it goes against our rights and it is time consuming.…
Amy Alcorn 3AB Current Event #2 Back in 2014 for the midterm elections, the voter turnout ended up being the lowest within seven decades. Less than half of eligible population decided to vote, and it appeared that no state had 60% of their population vote. The voter turnout was very low, and as an overall nation, only 36.3% of the population actually ended up voting. Apparently the main reason for such a low turnout was the negative reaction to the also negative tone of the campaigns for the elections.…
“…forcing people to the ballot box could affect the "strategic calculations" of 21st century political parties, which often focus on dividing the electorate by playing up certain issues and mining support from the resulting passion.” [Alex Ballingall] When fewer people turn out for voting it makes it easier for political party’s to vote themselves into power. This outcome goes against the will of the people, which is more undemocratic than forcing a citizen to participate in their political system. An extreme example of a political party taking advantage like this is setting up fake election polls to destroy unfavorable votes. “…people were fraudulently tricked into travelling to nonexistent ballot sites during the 2011 federal election.”…
Our current voting system has many negative effects on elections and the voters that participate in them all across the United States. Page stated that in our last election almost 90 million Americans said they weren’t going to vote in a survey conducted by Suffolk University. One of their main reasons was that their votes didn’t matter in choosing a new president. The knowledge that their votes don’t actually count in the presidential election discourages many people from voting in a country whose main principle is citizen participation in government. More people would be encouraged to vote if their votes mattered and had a larger impact in the goings-on in their country.…
Compulsory Voting Believe it or not, fifty-seven and a half percent of Americans voted in the 2012 presidential election. That is a little over half of all Americans that are eligible to vote; so many ask, what about the other half? The top three reasons people do not vote is because they are too busy and have a conflicting schedule, illness or disability, or simply because they lack interest. Voting is important, after all the end result is the leader of the United States or maybe even your local government. Compulsory voting, also known as mandatory voting, is a system in which voters are required to register to vote and to go to their polling place or vote on election day.…