Low Levels Of Youth Engagement In The Election

Being able to cast my first vote in the 21st century is a privilege. My generation needs to accept their patriotic responsibility and vote because many reforms are needed in order to carry us into the new millennium. Voting reforms are necessary to inspire political participation for other modifications and adjustments needed in areas such as health care, education, and Social Security, all which we as young people will face in the future. Participation in elections is necessary to facilitate and enable progress, but our present day system of voting is expiring by frustrated Americans.

Political inactivity on the part of young Americans stems from one fundamental source -- a general cynicism of the American political process. This disdain for politics is further perpetuated by a lack of voter education and a needlessly archaic voting procedure that creates barriers to voting where they need not exist. While many of these existing problems can be rectified with relative ease through the implementation of programs such as Internet voting and better voter education, such programs create only a partial solution.

Voting in many countries is held in different ways. In The United States of America, voting is voluntary while the Australian citizen has to vote, it is compulsory. When an Australian citizen does not vote they receive a fine. Compulsory voting has now become a large political issue for many countries. Great Britain has seen a dramatic decline in the number of people voting in the last 15 years (Singh, 2014) and compulsory voting has become a large political and social debate. However, as with any political change, there are strengths and weaknesses. The Australian system is an excellent one to analyse as the question has to be asked when introducing compulsory voting what are the long term democratic, economic and social issues? Four key points can be outlined to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the Australian compulsory voting system. The first, compulsory voting provides a clear and accurate representation of an entire electorate. Additionally, this system may influence an increase in support for the leftist policy in a current democratic institution. Another key issue to consider is, does an active and informed citizen have a moral duty and obligation to vote to protect and further society? Key constitutional changes brought about by referendums can prove that compulsory voting is essential and needed in society for every vote to count. Lastly, compulsory voting when being a secret ballot can turn into a more compulsory “turn up” for many citizens as they can

In Margaret Adsett’s article on young voters in Canada, she discusses the growing problem of low youth involvement in politics. In the paper, she tries to explain why the number of young voters has gone down from 70 per cent to 40 per cent between 1970 and 2000.

Politicians should be engaging youth in upcoming elections through face-to-face interaction and the use of technology. Young voters don’t have enough awareness and knowledge about politics. By conducting outreach programs or visiting high schools and college/university campuses, would help young voters understand political platforms and will give the political leaders an opportunity to hear the concerns of young voters. For example, as post secondary students it would be encouraging to have the chance to engage with political leaders, and have a better understanding of what they represent and who we feel best represents us as Canadian citizens.

In Australia, the voter turnout is approximately 94% of the citizens who are registered vote. But while people vote, a lot are not happy with the system Paula Mathewson a political insider and commenter said on the system “"The idea that high voter turnout based on compulsory voting translates into a politically engaged electorate is nonsensical. If we moved to a voluntary system, with the level of disenchantment and disengaged voters we have now, no one would vote” (Beck, Katie, 2013). Internet voting has had success in countries like Estonia (Arthur, Charles, 2014).They have been using E-voting for municipal elections, and while it works for small elections, there are still many flaws to Internet voting. The Internet is too easily

In the last federal election only 43 per cent of people under age 34 cast ballots, compared to 65 per cent of older voters. If social media isn’t getting young voters than the question continues of what will. Many do believe it is the schools system that didn’t encourage political movement throughout early childhood. In addition it has been proven that if something is not nurtured at a young age, the chances of it ever being put into action is doubted. Many of the families whose parents voted, the children followed and their children. Therefore, creating a clear pattern if young people didn’t start early the likely hood of them ever starting depends on their demand for change. “It used to be that researchers expected that, as young people got older, they would show up in higher numbers at the ballot box — but the ‘Life Cycle Effect’, as it’s been called, looks like it’s starting to fade. The voters that are not showing up now are not likely to show up later, either. That has dire implications for our

One of our most, and many would argue, the most valuable rights as citizens of a democracy is our right to vote. It gives us a voice in the direction our elected representatives steer our country. Unfortunately, historically young voters are underrepresented due to their low voting turnout. This came as a shock to me being a young voter myself. Growing up in California I was excited about getting the chance to vote, to have a voice as it were. However, this is clearly not the case for all potential young voters.

Industrial Countries all over the world have seen a steady decline in voter participation; Great Britain is a great example of this. The country has witness turnout in elections falling slowly as time pass. However, the election of 2001 dropped the country from their average of 76% voter turnout to just a 59.4% turnout. Comparatively, Australia, a former colony of Britain, has enjoyed high and steady voter participation since 1924 because of the implementation of compulsory voting. This system has proven to be not only effective in bring voters to the polls, but also effective in improving Australia’s democracy. By evaluating these two countries with similar political structure; one can see the difference in compulsory voting turnouts

“On the one hand, turnout among 16- and 17-year-olds was about 10 percentage points below overall turnout. On the other hand, 16- and 17-year-olds were more likely to vote than those aged 18 to 34. The same trend is evident elsewhere too. In Austria – the only European state with votes at 16 for national elections – this age bracket votes less than the entire population but more than the subsequent bracket.” (Alan Renwick and Barney McCay 2015). Politics as a standalone subject would encourage more participation as the combination of lessons about policy, media and up-to-date current affairs would personally relate to the individuals such as parents being fined for truancy, free school meals etc.

In particular, the disengagement of young Canadians from politics as a whole is concern as Young Canadians tend not to vote. This makes sense because young Canadians are typically in a relatively “care free” stage of life. (CRIC, 2001, p. 20) Therefore they do not see how elections could affect their interests or lives. However, the reason of disinterest or lack of motivation is not limited to young people, but true to people of all ages. In fact, after the 2011 election, a poll revealed that 30% of participants cited that they were uninterested in voting. (“Federal Election,” 2011) Though the older a person is the less likely they are to cite this as the main reason why they do not vote. This lack of motivation that people have towards politics is directly related to the lack in interest towards politics. If a person does not have an interest in something, then they do not go out of their way to seek out more information about it. Thus do not become educated or realize the importance of voting to their lives and democracy. This lack of education points to a decline in the importance that politics plays in people’s everyday lives. Canadians have become complacent, and their complacency leads them to the belief that their vote will not count towards making a difference. People are more likely to vote if they believe that their vote counts. (CRIC, 2001, p. 7) However, there are those who

Today was the last day to compile research about young voters. All of my research was summarized and analyzed. My research paper provides background information and global analysis about young voters. I researched the reason for young voters absence in the polls. I have also discovered some possible solutions. This information is helpful because my final product is about finding solutions to young voters absence specifically in Warren county. The solutions will be used to help connect county officials to high school students. I will also identify problems in the county and discover where high school students stand politically. My research paper has lots of statistics about the state young voters are now, where they were, and where they can

The research team’s question is why the student voter turnout is so low, and what can be done to improve turnout among students. With this research question, the team wants to find out how involved students are in the voting process while also determining the specific causes that are deterring or moving students away from voting. The research team has determined that the low voter turnout among students is an issue because this voting age is such a large group that it is now rivaling with the Baby Boomers. However, even though that both groups are almost the same size, the Baby Boomers, have a much higher voter turnout than Millennials (students). In the 2016 presidential election, the voter turnout for Baby Boomers was 69 percent while the Millennial voter turnout was 46 percent (Khalid 2016). The purpose of this research is to determine why this

Since a robust voter turnout is instrumental to the functioning of a healthy democracy, the ongoing decline of youth voter turnout in Canada is highly alarming. According to the Canadian Election Study, the reported voter turnout among Canadians aged 18 to 24 dropped from 83 percent in 1974 to 60 percent in 2000 (Barnes and Virgint, 2010). The aim of this paper is to explain this decline. While it is generally accepted that people’s propensity to vote increases as they age in their “life-cycle”, it does not provide an adequate explanation for the decline of voter turnout among young Canadians. This paper argues that the decline of youth electoral participation in Canada is, by and large, “generational” in nature – it can be attributed by the underlying characteristics of the youth generation. Young Canadians are more apathetic towards the political process, have a lower level of political knowledge, and view voting as less of a moral obligation than older Canadians and young Canadians in past generations.

Mandatory voting has been a topic of debate in democratic countries since the creation of democratic republics themselves. Voting is a crucial part of democracy because it determines who will be the leaders of both the voters and nonvoters. It is the right of a citizen to vote, but whether or not it is the responsibility remains disputed. However, voting must be performed with a basic understanding of policy and what it takes for someone to fit the role which they are running for. Voting should not be compulsory because it results in more uneducated voting that counteracts the educated voting.