Informative Essay: Voting In America

Genara Zamora

Mr. Crane

P.O.D

27 February 2015

Voting in America

For over decades our country was very politically involved. However, this changed greatly during WWII. Since then our voter turnouts have done nothing but decline. For those who still participate in voting is a very low percentage. Some say it is because people no longer have the knowledge to make an educated vote. Others say it’s because we don’t appeal to our biggest group of eligible-voters. It also has to do with how inconvenient voting day is. Many people want someone to stand up for what they believe in but when it comes to voting their voice isn’t heard because of the lack of never actually voting. If we want to increase our voting turnouts we need to do something

However, they still feel the need to vote, the question is why? According to psychologist and political scientist some Americans see it as a form of altruism, meaning even if not interested in any political issues, believe their vote can benefit others. Another theory is that it is a form of egocentrism. Voters may believe that because they are voting, those similar to them who are also in favor for the same candidate will vote, they call this the “voter’s illusion.” Some say there is a social factor that plays a part in voting. It is suggested that people are being motivated to vote simply in order to “fit in.” But based on on research altruism seems to be the reason behind why people in America

As of right now, the majority of eligible-voters that actually vote are in the age group between about 50-65. What we need to do is increase the participation from young voters. In order to do this, we need to appeal to that age group. We can do this by allowing to vote electronically. It is said that this may increase our voter turnout tremendously. However, the issue comes when they need to give proof of their identity. Since that creates an issue, another way of getting young voters to participate is by having our schools educate us on how important it is to give our vote and speak our mind politically. Based on my research, about 72 percent voters have attended college, the rest remaining have never attended college and are more likely to never vote. This is why we need to start teaching the importance of voting to children who are in junior-high and high school. They are the next generation voters and they need to have the knowledge to vote based on where we stand as a nation. Another thing we can do to increase our voter turnout is, to eliminate the two- step process. This seems to bring a lot of frustration to voters. For example, before our most recent midterm election, my brother registered to vote at our local post-office. When he went to vote they did not have his information. It had been mixed up and it took an unreasonable amount of time to straighten the issue out. Now in the