Essay On Low Voter Turnout

The voter turnout rates can lead to a multitude of things like education and more accurate votes to the simple feel of completing a civic duty. The endgame of voter turnouts is the education of voters involved (Document F) as well as the accuracy of the vote being unquestionable (Document E). This increased voter turnout can lead to the connection of people through gathering, regardless of age (Document B). “...Civic virtue; it’s sentimentality,”(Document G). The previous quote shows that civic virtue can go a long way from not only yourself emotionally, but others too. Higher voter turnout rates cannot only improve a multitude of things in our country, but also can give our nation a legitimate name.

To begin, political participation in the state of Texas has been declining in recent years. The cause for the diminishing participation is related to the low voter turnout in Texas, as well as the citizens’

There are many factors that have led to a culture of low voter turnout in the State of Texas. For example, Texas being a poor state with an uneven distribution of wealthy plays an important role. According to the text book, “the poverty rate is important because the poor and less educated, in the absence of strong parties to persuade them to go to the polls on Election Day, have a tendency to stay home”. Because the poverty rate is so high, it makes a big difference on voter turnout when the poor don’t

Texas born and raised means a lot of things, but for me it means diverse. As a child, I grew up in the southside of San Antonio and attended a Catholic school which contributed majorly to how I act now and has impacted how I view others. However, in the 7th grade, I moved to the Texas Hill Country and learned a plethora of contradictory views. This has led me to form my own opinions on what is right and wrong and meshed city and country life to create a well-rounded, diverse Texan.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines democracy "as a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by the people" (www.merriam-webster.com). But the one big problem is that "We the people" are not exercising their "supreme power" to determine the U.S. government. Less than half of the eligible electorate showed up at the polls for the 1996 U.S. presidential election. While lower turnout has marred previous presidential elections, 1996's voter turnout dipped below 50 percent for the first time in more than 30 years. It appears that the people's increasing cynicism about politicians that they lie to get elected and the perception that people have no respect or confidence in the

Attempting to persuade the majority of Texans to vote for the Democratic Party will be difficult as Texas is a large Republican state. However, due to the high number of electoral votes, 38, it is crucial that the Party does win these votes in order to ensure the presidency. Seeing as how Texas voters are mostly strictly traditional Anglo Republicans it will be more difficult to convince these voters than it would to persuade the remaining minority citizens. Historically, voter turnout for minorities in Texas is very low, so in order to change this turnout, these citizens must feel encouraged to vote because they will benefit from the result of their actions. Different minorities expect different things so it will simpler and more efficient

Figure 1 above depicts the trend in voter turnout for general elections over a period of time. Compared to presidential elections in 2004, 2008, and 2012 as well as congressional or senatorial elections in 2006, 2010, and 2014, special elections for proposed constitutional amendments see significantly lower voter turnout ostensibly because the policies or issues are considered less significant. Regardless, excluding fluctuations the special elections voter count is consistently low which

Since the United States of America established itself as its own self-governing country, one of the things that caused it to be salient and stand out from other countries is its relentless insistence on functioning as a democracy. Wars and protests have occurred so that every type of people, whether it was women or African Americans, may be granted the right to vote. Having a say in the American government is an honor and a privilege bestowed upon American citizens when they reach the age of eighteen. However, in recent years, statistics have shown that voter turnout and participation in recent elections has been rapidly and steadily declining, causing the United States to have the lowest voter participation in the world (“Is the System

Obstacles to voting and the absent voting of pure independents are the reason of low turnout in the U.S. today, which may also have great influence both politically and legally. The voter turnout is the percentage of qualified voters who actually go to an election to cast a ballot. Overall, the voter turnout in America is low, with only between 51 and 57 percent of eligible voters going to polls in presidential elections from 2004 to 2012. The reason why America has such a low turnout is because of several obstacles in voting. The U.S. do not provide paid holiday for voters who are workers to vote or well-structured politics for different racial voters, other obstacles like advanced registration and absentee voting also make the voting more difficult for voters. The pure independents, who are unlike independent leaners or behaviour independents, are less well informed and less care about the election information and also definitely less likely to vote on the Election Day, they do not have any preference for any candidates or parties. As Hershey mentioned in his book,

Since the establishment of our great country, Americans utilized the ballot box as a freedom of expression. Voting is a basic right that many of us take for granted, some even viewing it as a “God given right.” As citizens, we expect the right to vote. Many oblivious to the fact that voting is a privilege that can be revoked. The process, commonly referred to as disenfranchisement, is the principle reason for my summary. Today more than ever, one of America's post-election concerns is voter turnout. Usually, the numbers are bleak, especially during local elections. As a society, we cannot afford to turn our back on one of the pillars of a democracy. If elected officials are to represent segments of voters, then people from all

The U.S Constitution gives the states considerable latitude in the way of conducting elections. The American citizens have many opportunities to vote. However, a turnout in American elections has dramatically decreased over the past several decades. In order to address this issue, majority of states have allowed absentee voting reforms. These convenient reforms are thought to increase the voter turnout in the elections, as well as to reduce administrative costs.

The Democratic and Republican Party primaries are over. America is left with two main candidates to choose from in the upcoming U.S. presidential election this coming November: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. As of right now, both candidates are still considered “presumptive” in their respective parties until each party holds their national convention and officially nominates them. Barring a Hillary Clinton indictment, one of those two will become the next president of the United States.

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.

From the PowerPoint “Thinking Critically about Elections in Texas” it says that in 2014 only 33.4 percent of all eligible voters exercised their right to vote. This means that Texas has a very low voting rate, which can affect Texas in the long run. Why is it that Texas has such a low voting turnout? Why are people not participating? The same PowerPoint suggest that maybe it is because of the vast number of elections or maybe when they schedule voting times. There is being millions of dollars spent on campaigns and such to get the word out and get people involved but Texas voters are still not voting!

The most important factor to evaluate if voter turnout has decreased is calculating and constructing the turnout rate, “when it equals the total number of votes cast divided by the eligible electorate” (McDonald and Popkin 2001, 963). This means that researchers rely upon the Bureau of Census statistics of the voting-age population (VAP) for the denominator. According to the Bureau of the Census, the VAP includes people ineligible to vote. This group of people consists of noncitizens, felons, and the mentally incompetent. The voting-age population also fails to include the citizens who are living overseas whose votes can count. The inclusion of ineligible populations in the VAP creates a negative skew to the data used to calculate voter participation. This, in turn, would make voter participation appear to be declining more than it actually is since, according to McDonald and Popkin, the population of those ineligible to vote, like noncitizens and felons, has been