The Importance Of The Voting Process In The United States

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).

Voting has been a core part of our government since the very beginning, however, many citizens chose not to take part in this essential participation. To prevent any one person from gaining too much power voting was put in place as well as checks and balances in the system by the founding fathers. While not everything is decided by voting because our government is a Constitutional Republic, voting is by far the most important way a citizen can participate in the government. Therefore, it’s baffling that people chose not to vote. As Franklin D. Roosevelt 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.” While we can all agree that voting is important there is a debate on whether it should be mandatory. Voting should be an optional but important way to participate in the government.

Voting is the foremost way to exhibit good citizenship and civil responsibility. People should get involved in elections and educated in all political measures. By this they become good and responsible participatory citizens. It should always be remembered that some people sacrifice their lives to preserve the freedom and voting opportunity as a sacred right. True democracy demands the involvement of the people otherwise in absence of that there is no democracy(Akande, 2011).

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

The United States of America is a democracy type of country, yet many Americans don’t vote. Many Americans haven’t voted in the presidential election since World War ll. No more than 65% of american citizens have registered to vote. A question that has been asked is if americans should be required to vote and I think that they shouldn’t be required to vote.

Voting has not always been as easy as it is today. It is interesting to examine how far America has progressed in its process of allowing different types of people to be able to vote. Voting was once aimed at a particular group of people, which were white males that owned their own property. Today, most people over the age of eighteen can vote, except for the mentally incompetent or people who have been convicted of major felonies in some states. The decline of voter participation has always been a debate in the public arena. According to McDonald and Popkin, it is “the most important, most familiar, most analyzed, and most conjectured trend in recent American political history (2001, 963)” The question is, how important is voter

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

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.

“Your vote is your voice as an American citizen. It's your opportunity to be heard, to hold elected officials accountable for their elections and to have a say in important issues that affect your community. On Election Day, every vote matters”. Anonymous

Voting in a democratic country is one of the various ways to let the people have a say. It wasn't until 1870 when the fifteenth amendment was passed permitting African American men to vote regardless of nationality or origin. Later again in 1920 when the nineteenth amendment was passed, allowing women to have a say in the elections. Throughout history, people fought for the rights to speak concerning what they believe. The first amendment states that Congress shall make, "no law abridging the freedom of speech or the press." being qualified to vote is considered freedom of speech. Americans should not be required to vote because compulsory voting would interfere with the consent of the governed, worse than good would come out of forcing citizens to vote in elections they want no part of, none intellectuals will be

Only eligible citizens can vote. Which are comprised of naturalized citizens and U.S born citizens. Undocumented people living in the U.S are ineligible to vote for any election. This is a flaw in American democracy because it is preventing people who live in American soil from voting on the basis of documentation status. Even among Americans who are eligible to vote, there are barriers to prevent certain groups from taking part in the democratic process. For example, during the recent 2016 Presidential election some polling places where far, had complex registration requirements or had lack of staff causing long waiting times. These factors discourage certain communities from voting, which excludes them from the democratic process (https://www.aclu.org/feature/voting-rights-2016-whats-stake). Democracy in America is also dependent on the level of education that people have. Voting requires deep analysis between a wide array of issues that require an understanding of politics and current events. This level of analysis and understanding of political issues may not be possible unless one is educated. Contemporary American democracy is fragile due to the fact that it requires an educated populace as well as high voter participation, both of which are currently lacking because of the current ineffective education system as well as

In this essay, I would like to discuss the major obstacles to voting, recent changes to overcome voting barriers and the political influence of changed rules. Low turnout in the U.S. reflects that there are obstacles for people to voting and changes to overcome these obstacles may also bring new problems to different social groups. I will elaborate on these aspects in the following parts.

There are six types of voter participation but voting is by far the most common form of political participation. People participate in elections because of their strong sense of civil duty they have but many people tend not to because political parties aren’t as forceful in getting it’s members to vote than in other places. People that vote are usually educated, older, and have a higher income, Throughout the history of the United States o America, many of the citizens have been suppressed in regarding their right to vote. Even though most of the citizens, that are old enough, are eligible to vote there is still low voter turn out. Low voter turnout is most commonly explained by apathy among citizens and problems with registration. Campaigns become more personalistic when they are for primary elections, there is a reliance on the candidate’s image, and there is decline in party identification. There is a lot of strategy involved in political campaigns. The overall strategy should be to appeal to voters in a party for that party’s nomination even if it means becoming more radical so that way you can attract the main group of that party. Once the nomination is secured it is better to have more centrist views to convince those of the opposite party whose votes are wavering, to vote for the candidate. The main reasons that

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.

By voting tells candidates that they must back up what they promise to do to help make our nation a better place to live. It also allows issues addressed by citizens concerns on different issues in their state and communities. Going to the polls on the day to vote shows a good example for your children, friends, family, and neighbors.