Essay On Low Voter Turnout In America

“Requiring citizens to vote is no more restrictive than requiring them to register for the draft” (Doc C). Voting will just be added to a list of what Americans need to do for their country. If we can drive on the same side of the road constantly, voting every once in awhile won’t be a huge problem. “In sum, voting is the least a citizen can do for his or her country” (Doc C). Voting is a form of freedom of speech, when people vote they vote for what they believe in and most people want what’s best for the country. “It is not unreasonable to ask US citizens to do this minimal thing” (Doc

A very controversial topic in the United States is whether or not Americans should be required to vote. Voting is a very essential piece to democracy, but many Americans today are not attending their voting location and supporting the candidate they feel is best. In recent elections, just 60% of registered voters casted their vote for a candidate. This is an issue that many people are not happy about, but whether or not there is reason to fix it is the other side to the case. Voter participation is an issue that has been going on for years, and no laws are in place currently to bring it up. Americans have been proud to live in a “free country”, and a law forcing citizens to vote may be against America’s principles. Compulsory voting should

One reason why Americans shouldn’t be required to vote is because voting without background information might lead to wrong decisions. Evidence supporting this reason is, in document G (New York Times) (Randy Cohen) states that people that are uninformed, will end up voting for something that doesn’t endorse their interests. This evidence helps explain

America is a free country, and voting is an important part of that freedom. Unlike other countries where dictators and monarchs make decisions on behalf of the people, Americans get the right to decide who runs the country and what laws should govern citizens. But even though voting is an important privilege, most Americans simply don't vote, and some of their reasons may surprise you. Here are seven common reasons most Americans don't vote.

In the last half of the twentieth century, voter turnout in federal elections has declined. During the same period, voter turnout has been higher in presidential elections than in midterm elections.

To every political system there are many positives and negatives and one critique of compulsory voting systems is that informal and uninterested voting is increased. It has been advocated that compulsory voting brings a large amount of “uninterested voters” to the polls and in turn cast votes that are clearly inconsistent with their own political values compared to those who are more informed and motivated voluntary voters (Selb and Latchat, 2009). In this case the primary concern is when people are forced to vote they will either pick a candidate at random or spoil their ballot which consequently, does not make the outcome of the election representative of the people’s interests. If certain individuals are not interested in politics they should not be forced to contribute in one of the most salient political statements practiced in Canada (Selb and Latchat, 2009). They have the right to choose their level of political participation.

I believe that the low voter turnout in most elections is appalling. Why do people want to willingly give up their voice in our governmental system? Fewer than 37% of all eligible voters actually cast a ballot in the last presidential election. Many claim ignorance of political issues, but I believe that must stem from laziness. If people would

“From 1972 to 2012, citizens 18-29 turned out at a rate 15 to 20 points lower than citizens 30 years older” from this data we can conclude that age is a demographic that affects voter turnout (What Affects Voter Turnout). Voting laws such as those of identification or registration impact voter turnout. For example, the introduction of early voting was meant to increase voter turnout, but has in fact decreased turnout (What Affects Voter Turnout). In response to the argument that the system lowers voter turnout rate, one should take the many other variables that contribute to turnout into account.

In “Race and Beyond: Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote,” Sam Fulwood claims, “Regardless of whether a favored candidate won or popular ballot initiative passed, our nation suffered because of the number of people who didn’t vote at all” (par. 2). I agree with Sam Fulwood and I believe it is so unfortunate that Americans don’t use this right. Voting is one of the most valuable possessions that Americans are given and yet they do not use. Many of the countries around the world do not grant voting rights to their citizens. These countries either have a dictatorship or kingdom which prevents citizens from voting. People need to understand the sufferings of those people who struggled for this right. When the United States

Creating a new law that requires Americans to vote in national elections, will not be effective. Instead, as text 2 states in lines 27-30, it will result in random votes. Votes that had candidates checked off at random, so, as it is said, “the government is satisfied that they have fulfilled their civic duty.” Therefore, compulsory voting has more negative results than positive.

Our country is based on the foundation that our elected government should most accurately represent the voices and desires of every aspect of the population. However, that has always presented challenges. This is especially prevalent when people chose not to vote. The ramifications can include close elections, greater political division in the country, and disrespect to the fundamental ideals behind voting rights.

registered to vote in 2004, 47 percent of them reported that they did not register because “ [...]

President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting”. President Roosevelt words definitely strike true here in the United States. We live in a country in which we are privileged to elect our leaders and play a crucial role in determining the future of our country. However, every year after elections I constantly hear people complaining about the outcome. What surprises me the most about people who complain is the fact that they didn’t vote. They quite possibly didn’t get the result they were hoping for because of the fact that they didn’t vote. According to the United States Census Bureau, only sixty-one percent of the United States population voted during the presidential election of 2012. If what president Roosevelt said about voting is true, why do thirty-nine percent of U.S citizens deprive themselves of their right to vote? Through my research, I found that the three biggest factors causing Americans to shy away from the polls in November are people feel that their vote won’t count, they don’t have time, and we as Americans have a history of being apathetic towards politics.

With Donald Trump as the winner of the last election people are asking the question “Why is it so important to vote?” Well, read this paper and you you won’t be asking that question anymore.

Consequently, voting is an important right that people should partake