Low Voter Turnout In America

Many Americans don't vote because they think their vote doesn't count. This is a common excuse that's rooted in the belief that the Electoral College chooses the President, not the voters. In reality, the popular vote in

In the article “The Myth of the Vanishing Voter” by Michael P. McDonald and Samuel L. Popkin, it is argued that the decline in voter participation in national elections since 1972 is an illusion created by the Bureau of the Census because it uses the voting-age population to calculate voter turnout instead of calculating the population of citizens who are eligible to vote (2001, 963).

Question 4)  What are some explanations for why voter turnout is so low in the U.S. compared to other wealthy, literate and democratic countries?

The debate over compulsory vs. non-compulsory voting is a complex subject matter to say the least, that has sparked much controversy in recent times with almost all strongly in favor of one side of the argument and or the other. This highly polarized debate has sparked in popularity in recent times because of a quote by former president Barak Obama in which he said that “It would be transformative if everybody voted”. It is believed that if everyone voted that could and was eligible then the domination of hard core partisans within the political system would be in part quelled as the candidates went where the votes are, which would be away from the extremes. Moreover some studies show that mandatory voting decreases the rates of uninformed voters within an area as voting becomes more of a civic duty than right. While the institution of compulsory voting would have a short term effect of increasing the rate of uninformed voters,

In our system of government we are privileged with the option to take part in the political process that runs the country. It is our right to vote that lets the people influence change in policy and set the guidelines that politicians must follow to be elected representatives. This precious ability, which is most coveted in most non-democratic countries, is taken for granted in our own.

The voter barrier explanation for the decline in voter turnout in US national elections was researched and analyzed by, Fair Vote- The Center for Voting and Democracy, organization. They classify these barriers as being registration and the scheduling of elections during the workweek that intensify the disparity in turnout between low and high income voters (Fair Vote, 2012). Given that Fair Vote does recognize and acknowledge that this is not the only problem that has affected voter turnout to decline, they do believe that it plays a substantial role in it. However, not only do they state that these

The special election process is not fair and therefore not adequate, because it is more difficult for working-class citizens and minority voters to participate in the election. Currently, elections take place on weekdays during working times. This decreases voter turnout, as many people are unable to leave work to go vote. Furthermore, this disproportionately affects working-class citizens and people who earn hourly wages. Voter ID laws, while practical, further decrease voter turnout because people who do not own adequate identification or who are not aware of the need for identification are unable to vote. Next, the lack of widespread voting centers makes it more difficult for voters to reach a voting center, especially working-class citizens and urban dwellers, many of whom do not own cars or other forms of transportation. Lastly, the language barrier also makes it increasingly difficult for minorities to participate in the voting process, decreasing voter

“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.

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

Low voter turnout in the United States is due to poor rules and regulations, demographics,

Voter turnouts in the U.S. are spectacularly low compared to most other democracies. Turnout has not reached over 70% in the last century while other developing nations and quite a few third world nations have registered higher turnouts. During the 2016 presidential election, only about 55.7% of the population cast their votes according to newly released Census Bureau figures. The U.S. trails far below compared to the other developed nations hovering over 80% which were, Belgium (87.2%), Sweden (82.6%) and Denmark (80.3%). How could this be? Is the U.S. political system built in a way where many people believe that their votes don’t matter or should compulsory voting be enforced? There are many factors that go into the results of voter turnouts in the U.S.

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

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.

Hypothesis 1: Voters with higher education (which generally results in higher household incomes) are more likely to vote.

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,