An Additional Area Of Contention Within The Literature

In a democratic system it is vital that citizens engage in their civic duty of voting; only then can a proper governing body be chosen to represent the will of the majority. Abraham Lincoln got to the core of democracy when he stated, “the government of the people, by the people and for the people.” In the last 50 years of Canadian history we have begun to see a decline in voter turnout; ranging from 80% of citizens voting in 1962, gradually dwindling to 59.1% in the year 2008 (Dickerson, Flanagan & O'Neill, 2010). It is important to understand why

Undoubtedly, the last 80 years have brought the biggest change to the election process - polling. Beginning with the Gallup poll in 1936, the industry has become a titanic business, growing unregulated by the United States government. Frequently, polls have come under fire for their inaccuracy, or for their role in blocking the Democratic process (the 2000 and 2004 elections come to mind). Nonetheless, the 1992 election was not notable because of alleged bias, but because of what the polls said about

It was a cold November day as people gathered around their television, eagerly awaiting the news of the 2000 Presidential election. Would the victor be Texas governor George W. Bush or Vice President Al Gore? It was a close election, with Bush only leading by 537 votes. “The 2000 presidential election was the first in 112 years in which a president lost the popular vote, but captured enough states to win the electoral vote.” (The Disputed Election) However, if the majority of eligible Americans would have voted, the outcome may have been different. Throughout American history, the number of voting participants diminishes. According to Warren E. Miller, “[n]early 63 percent of the voting-age populace went to the polls in 1960, when John F. Kennedy

We have come a long way from a time when only white, affluent, property owning males could vote. In terms of ‘voting rights’ it was a gradual expansion of the vote, which slowly began to expand to all whites, individuals once labeled slaves or ‘aliens’, African Americans, military personal and women. To vote in the United States, no longer do you need to pass a literacy test, but you must be a U.S citizen and at least 18 years old on Election Day. In addition, some states also require various periods of residency before voting is permitted. Furthermore some states restrict felons or those mentally incompetent to vote. In Massachusetts, for the first time, there was Early Voting. During this period, October 24th to November 4th, registered voters were allowed to cast their ballots. During this period of Early voting, I along with a group of classmates had the engaging opportunity to be an exit pollster. We decided to canvas much of the Boston area, with hopes of a ranging demographic. This hands-on experience, working with a team in carrying out the exit poll, allowed for a greater insight to the dynamics of election administration, a deeper understanding on the rights of voters and voter turn out, technique for attaining a random sample, the role of the interviewer and importance of survey design.

This source focuses on the decline in voter turnout over the past few decades with the lead up to the 2000 Presidential election year. Comparing elections from 1960, the various "experts" have not been able to pinpoint a solid reason until a several people from Harvard come up with an interesting theory. There was a spike of people making time to vote in 1992, showing that the American people were not happy with the economy. This leading to the idea that people are on the whole, satisfied with Government in the way in how politics affects their lives. There is more to pull from this spin on why people do not go to the polls, and I feel that this article can add another angle to the polling drought that affects the US elections. I found it by searching “Low Voter Turnout” in the National Newspapers Core database.

The title of the article is a little misleading because the polls that are misleading are the ones that need to “stop the polling insanity.” Will they? No. So, the point of the article is that it is up to the individual reading the polls to assess

To begin refining the research question the intended demographic must be conceptualized. The focused population will be Ontario residents. As the research questions pertains to voting in elections the sample must be individuals that are eligible to vote. This excludes anyone that

Adding to the belief that social pressures influence voter turnout, Alan Gerber, Donald Green and Christopher Larimer in Social Pressure and Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment, test the effects of priming intrinsic motives and applying varying degrees and extrinsic pressure. Their research attempts to show the extent by which social pressure increases voter turnout. Before the Michigan primary election in August of 2006, researchers sent out one of four various mailings to several register voters in the state, so about 80,000 households. These various mailings were sent out to encourage these individuals to vote

Voting is a standout amongst the most principal parts of political engagement. Numerous political researchers connect voting with the strength of the popularity based process and contend that declining voting rates might be symptomatic of a democratic deficit. Since political support can likewise impact public policy, others are worried that lower investment could bring about strategies that are not really illustrative of key voting demographics, similar to the individuals who tend to vote less. Therefore, the voter turnout rate is utilized as one pointer of political engagement. In Canada, researchers who look at voter turnout have found various

This then leads into what is the sample size is too small and is not a great representation of the overall population. If the sample size is too small, it could lead to selection bias which is when the sample does a terrible job representing the actual ideologies of the population in that area. Push polling, which is asking questions in a way that gives the pollster the answer that is being sought out, is often another technique used to potentially skew the outcome. All of these are factors that could potentially be important when it comes to the outcome of the polls. Make sure to keep in mind that whenever a poll is taken there is always a way that someone/something can skew it to their

Canadians, like citizens of numerous countries around the world, take pride in living in a democratic nation. While Canada is unequivocally a democracy, there are certain aspects of the system that call into question its true democratic nature. The first past the post electoral system Canada currently has in place is undemocratic and unjust, as it undermines millions of citizens’ rights to vote. This has influenced a great deal of subsequent apathy and indifference toward politics in the masses, and democracy no longer seems to be a benchmark of Canadian society.

Many individuals speculate that early polls influence undecided voters to vote for the candidate in the lead, however, others believe early polls provide assistance in pre-elections to show the public how each candidate is shaping their standpoints. I believe that early polls do sway undecided voters to vote for the candidate in the lead because of the variety of tactics used to manipulate opinions by pollsters.

Voter turnout, as well as election results, depend upon and are effected by several different factors. Everything from family status to beliefs about abortion can determine how a person will vote. In my presentation, however, I focused on three aspects that effect voter turnout and elections. I found, in my research, that a voter's age, sex and party identification greatly factor into how a person will cast his or her vote.

FPP is a simple system that for the average citizen is easy to understand and it provides electorates with fast results. However, simplicity and fast results are being enjoyed at the expense of democracy. The system’s ability to generate phony majority governments represents a major blow to Canadian democracy. In Canada’s case, it is the lack of proportionality that allows this to happen . Canada’s current voting system “has been producing majority governments with less than 50% of the popular vote” since the 1940’s. . Only in the Canadian voting system “parties can turn minority of votes into majority of seats.” When parties rule against the will of the majority of the population, democratic values are clearly undermined; therefore, Canada must

The two predominant schools of literature on voting patterns have both been used to approach these studies. The “Spatial school” assumes that the voter has a given stake or interest in the outcome of the vote, which he recognizes, and which leads him to vote as he does, (Enelow, Hinich 1984). Downs (1957) presents the theory of the “system of information acquisition,” to explain how voter’s, using a single trait to gather information about a candidate, that allows them to rationally judge what the candidates position will be on issues that concern them.