Voter Turnout Decrease
There are a number of differences in the demographics between the ones that are and are not politically involved. Older people tend to vote more than the younger people by their concern toward the government, as well as the number of white Americans voting more than the other minority races would. The educated will vote more than the uneducated by having more knowledge of the election, along with families with higher income of over $65,000 having time to vote than the low income ones of $35,000 or under. The ones who shows party identification would want to get involved in politics, whereas independent individual would not care as much. People who grew up with specific ideology would want to have a say in politics, in contrast to those who did not.
The United States had an election on November 4, 2014. This election had the lowest voter turnout since World War II. During World War II, people had an excuse not to vote, as a lot of people were fighting overseas. There was no war this time. Americans, frustrated with the state of our democracy, just gave up on the political process.
Hey jackson! I completely agree what you said in your discussion. The low voter turnout should not be worried about and that it is a good thing in general. The people should not vote if they are not interested or are not educated on the election. As you said, If you introduce and educate the people on politics this should help the low voter turnout in time.
From the 1830s to the 1840s, voter turnout increased by over from about 57% to about 80%, which is over 20% difference. Although it is important for as many people to vote as possible, the importance of voter turnout becomes less significant when knowing that the voters are less representative of the total population and voting can be manipulated. For example, during the voting process, there was the possibility of buying people’s vote. Now that white men without property and education could vote, their votes could also be bought. This would be a beneficial to them because they could get money they did not have in the first place in exchange for their vote, and it would be beneficial for the people buying their vote because it meant they now had one more vote in their favor.
In the article “Voter Turnout” on FairVote’s website they discuss how America’s voter turnout is low compared to other democracies who see as much as 90% voter turnout compared to our 60% average. One explanation given for this is that “...low turnout is usually attributed to political disengagement and the belief that voting for one candidate/party or another will do little to alter public policy…”(“Voter Turnout”). This means that people just do not care about politics or they feel they can have no effect on public
“ While compulsion of any kind is a restriction, so is the compulsion to drive only on the right side of the road.” ( “Is It Time To Consider Mandatory Voting Laws? Worsening Voting Statistics Make a Strong Case.” by John W. Dean.) One way voter turnout can increase is by compulsory (required) voting.
Over the past decades Texas has had the lowest voter turnout. This is due to the fact that in previous years a lot of people we ineligible to vote because of discrimination in the southern states especially in Texas. In the nineteenth century many laws and regulations were placed on citizens that prohibited them the right to vote. These individuals consist of African American, Hispanics, and women. Many laws has been amended since then to allow people the right to vote therefore, voter turnout has been increasing, but is still ranked the lowest in Texas.
For the past century, voter turnout in American presidential elections has significantly declined, likely due to the fact that Americans do not believe their single votes are important. In light of more recent elections, political donations from corporations, identified or anonymous, have infringed upon traditional, American democracy. Although corporate donations to political campaigns have little effect on the public compared to the newly pivotal role of social media, these donations are founded upon a ruling that is classist, undemocratic, and corrupt, leading to unprincipled politics. This ruling is Citizens United, passed January 21, 2010.
The serious lack of voter turnout contradicts this responsibility. There are individuals who speculate that it would be beneficial to make voting mandatory, with repercussions for those who do not vote. At the beginning of the course, I had believed that voting should be made mandatory. I thought that it would inspire people to vote, and would increase the numbers of turnout that way.
Another solution to the low voter turnout would be to allow citizens to cast their votes online. Although this is susceptible to fraud, they can limit the votes per person by only allowing one vote per IP address or by issuing each registered voter an account login. This method would allow people to cast their vote in a matter of minutes at their own time. The last suggestion that could increase voter turnout would be removing the registration process to vote. Younger voters are not familiar with the voting registration process or they think it is too complicated.
There are various explanations as to why young adults have one of the lowest voter turnout percentages. Young voters feel as though that they don’t have much at stake in America than older people. Older people need to know how their children’s school’s are going to run, health insurance, hospitals, their homes, and, of course, their careers. An alternative explanation is that young voters feel that there is no one worth voting for or that they are not well informed about the campaign.
Logically, lowering the voting age would result in at least a slight increase in voter turnout, simply because a wider amount of people would be able to vote. But it might not be as big of a change as some would expect or want. As seen throughout history, just because people are able to vote does not mean that they will vote. Through the course of several elections, the percentage of voters under 30 has fluctuated, ranging from 39% in 2016 to 50% in 2020 (Tufts, 2021). These fluctuations are caused by many factors, such as the competitiveness of the election, the level of the election, and the political views of the candidates (Frame, 2022).
Even though voter turnout rates are very low, allowing teenagers to vote is not a great solution. From personal experience as a teen myself, I know that most teens are lazy, irresponsible and immature and therefore it would be a mistake to let us vote. People aged 16-17 arent even treated as adults to begin with so it seems strange to give teens a gigantic privilege such as voting. Teenagers are barely starting to become mature adults and they don’t know too much about politics to begin with other than what they get from political socialization such as what they see on social media and the news.
In 2012, 62% of youngest voters showed disintrest in the political process. " This is a clear sign why the voting age should not be lowered. Instead of arguing about lowering the voting age, we should be looking into alternatives to encourage the people who
However, one of the key characteristics of a healthy democracy is a high voter-turnout. If people do not turn up on Election Day, it is likely that they do not see the point of holding elections or the conditions are not suitable for them to vote. People vote because they believe that their vote has the power to make changes in the country. Voter apathy often develops when voters do not see voting as a way of voicing their concerns. America therefore continues to tread on risky ground, if a way of increasing voter turnout is not found.
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