Improving Low Voter Turnout in the United States Essay

One study ranks the U.S. 120th on a list of 169 nations compared on voter turnout (Pintor, Gratschew, & Sullivan, 2002). While during the last decade many initiatives have been undertaken to increase voter participation, concerns

If there were less elections open to the public, maybe voters would take their rights more seriously. This is not to hinder our democracy, but rather develop it. By leaving the decisions to more house and senate members, this will still keep intact representative government and democracy in America, but also help the voter turnout to increase. There are so many elections going on within the voter's own state that they simply take the right to vote as a common thing instead of a luxury. In many countries voting is required to obtain a driver's license thus making it more of a priority for citizens to vote. America should consider require voting by all eligible citizens -not registered. Registration is a lengthy process which should ultimately not be required which would open the polls up to anyone of the age eighteen, not only to those registered. Subsequently, many people do not vote because of the lack of availability as most elections are held on work days. Therefore, making voting easier by having it held on weekends would be beneficial for working

Is there any way to increase voter turnout? Compulsory is a way to increase voter turnout. In 2016, only 57.9% of eligible voters voted. Should Americans be required to vote? In my opinion, Americans should not be required to vote. There are three reasons why Americans should not be required to vote: many young people don’t have time to vote, citizens have the liberty to choose vote or not, and people that’s inexperience have to vote will be dangerous.

Mandatory voting in America should be implied in the political system. Countries such as Australia and Belgium have already enforced this law on its people, and have had great results in the increasing turnout of voters going to polls. In excess of seventy years in Australia, voters have been obliged to appear to survey Election Day. Disappointment to show up causes a fine of up to fifteen dollars. Australian races since mandatory voting was implemented the turnout has reached an amount of ninety percent and above. Australian citizens have gotten use to showing up to polls and voting that it is a common obligation in their lives. (Ornstein) Based on this statistic mandatory voting has a clear effect. It raises participation rates this would also prompt more Americans to pay attention to which candidate to vote for. Mandatory voting will help change the political system of the United States, which will lead to different political culture and ultimately increase voter-turnout. As well as engage the citizens of our nation to vote who they feel is necessary. Money is also a big issue in becoming a president or even getting people to notice a candidate. Billions of dollars go into these campaigns, but if mandatory voting was enforced, this would lower the amount of money spent tremendously candidates can focus on debates and talk about a right path for our nation. Overall, mandatory voting would create a stronger, smarter, and more democratic United States of America.

Americans are fortunate enough to have the right to vote, so we should take opportunity to be heard. “...many Americans do not vote” (Doc BE). Some Americans do not take the chance to vote. For example, “Since World War II, no presidential election has ever involved 65% or more of registered voters!” (Doc BE). Voting is important because, “People express their consent or disapproval in many different ways” (Doc BE).

For example, a rational voter will only vote if the personal benefits outweigh the costs. Most Americans know that the likelihood of one vote determining the outcome of the election is very low, therefore many people do not see a direct tangible benefit from voting in an election. Studies also show that the poor, unemployed, less educated and minority population tend to feel alienated from politics. Unless a candidate is specifically addressing their specific needs, this population of people do not feel the need to go out and vote. Another factor of low voter turnout is the media predicting early winners. When media and news outlets predict the winner of a vote before the polls are even closed, voters may feel discouraged from voting, thinking that their candidate has already lost and their vote will not make a difference. However, this can also work in the reverse direction, where people choose to go and vote in order to ensure that the predicted candidate does not win, as was seen recently in the Michigan primary election where Hillary Clinton was predicted to win ended up losing to Bernie

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

What if some people see voting as a waste of time since they dont wanna say or express their opinion in a vote. Even sometimes the ones who complain about the voting turnouts are the non-voters we should all choose whether or not we would like to

Only 53.6% of eligible voters vote, leaving 46.4% not voting (“Political Participation in the US”). This 46.4% of people do not believe their votes count. They believe that the Electoral College system cancels out their votes and that the government will not listen anyway. People think that nothing will change due to the incumbency rate in Congress. That is where the people do not see what is really happening. Americans do not vote enough, so they cannot possibly make a change in government when they are not exercising one of their most powerful rights. Citizens of other countries yearn for the right to vote and Americans who fought so hard for this right do not even use it. “US voting rates are among the lowest in the developed world” (“Political Participation in the US”). Young people should be concerned with this issue. Because America has a democratic form of government, political participation is necessary, everyone’s vote counts, and corrections in government can only be made by the people first.

Voting is a right that was given to us by the democracy government system. I believe that when it comes to voting everybody participate in their civil duty much like jury duty, or doing your taxes if they are of age. Instead of giving U.S citizens the option to vote, making it mandatory to vote will ensure that everybody will have a say into how

I believe that the low voter turnout can be a good and bad thing. It allows the people that enjoy the political aspect of voting and allows the people ,that are educated on the election, vote for the best man or woman. The bad part of low voter turnout is that this means that there are not enough people out there in the United States that are educated to the point in which they can vote for the next president and so forth. The people that do not usually do not vote are young, low income, and the biggest one less educated. I believe that if you do not understand the full grasp of the election and what it can have on the future of the United States, then I would not recommend that you should vote for the next U.S. president. I would like to summarize

It seems as though the younger population of voters have all grown up in a world where they have been influenced to believe that their one vote will not make a difference, and therefore they do not bother to take the time out of their busy schedules to cast their meaningless vote. In the last presidential election, only one out of four citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four casted their vote (“Is the System broken?”). The opinion that one vote will not make a difference appears to be directly respondent to the younger generation of voters. This generation needs to be educated on the difference that one vote can make.

The major reason why people don’t is because they feel like the people running for positions of power aren’t the best people to be the leader of our country. People feel that they shouldn’t waste there vote so they don’t vote. ‘In the 2008 US Presidential election, people sensed a new political star in Obama, someone who would make a difference, and voter turnout was the highest for forty year”. This goes to show that if there is someone that has the potential to be a good leader people will go out and vote because they have a reason

What is more American than voting? This right has been fought for by many groups and people throughout the life of our country. From the people in our history books to the everyday person fighting for their rights, voting has been yearned for by many. However, even with voting being such a big deal, voter turnout is low for America and still there are some Americans who can’t vote. With so much being done throughout the years to get the vote to Americans, we’d expect high voter turnout and everyone being able to vote, but that isn’t true and it needs to change. We should make voting required as turnout will rise, more people would get involved in the government, and more people will be able to vote.

Voting is a vital portion of conducting everyday life. Americans have more freedom than many other people in countries around the globe; therefore, it is pertinent to express that freedom in many ways. Up until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, many people of color, gender, and all other classifications in the United States fell under one umbrella: not having the ability to vote. (massvote.org) As far as Americans having the ability to vote, 218,959,000 people have the eligibility to vote as of August 16th, 2015. Out of that significantly large number, 146,311,000 are actually registered to vote. (statisticbrain.com) This large gap in people with the eligibility to vote, and actual registered voters, is very alarming. As an American, it is the right and duty of a citizen to exercise all attainted rights by voting in all elections, even if the favored party seems to lose to no avail. (theodysseyonline.com)