Voter Turnout In America Essay

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).

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.

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.

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

Voting in elections is the most important form of participation in American politics. Even though this is true, America has a very low voter turnout. This is defined as the percentage of eligible voters who actually show up to vote. Only 6 out of 10 Americans vote in the presidential election, and it is even lower for midterm and local elections (Ginsberg, 306, 2013). Voter participation today is substantially lower than it was in the 19th century. Although, the number of people that could vote was lower than it is now, considering that women and other minorities were not allowed to vote until later in the century (Schulman, n.d). Age, gender, education, income, ethnicity, and religious affiliation all have differing effects on voter turnout rates. Education and income are the top factors that determine whether someone votes or not. Someone with a higher income and educational knowledge about voting are more likely to vote verses someone with a lower income and no education. If citizens do not have any knowledge about the voting process or candidates, they become discouraged and do not turnout to vote. Also, Texas is one of the states with the lowest voter turnout rates in the country and ranks in the bottom third of voter participation (Ginsberg, 821). Reasons for this are because Texas has a lower average age than the national average, and young citizens are more likely not to vote. Also, Texas has a political culture that is traditionalistic and individualistic. In a traditionalistic political culture, the political and economic elite discourage voting. In an individualistic political culture, the people choose not to vote because of “ real or perceived corruption in government” (Ginsberg, 821). Texas has a tradition of keeping a decentralized government, which causes numerous elections. Voters become overwhelmed with the

Factors such as competitiveness of upcoming elections and demographics play roles in determining voter turnout. Voting rates historically vary widely among states. In a given election year, many factors contribute to the number of state citizens going to the polls. In presidential elections, citizens of less competitive states go to the polls less often than in states where outcome is less certain. Election type also influences voter turnout. Fewer voters across all states turn out for primary elections and local elections. Among demographic factors, age and race influence voter turnout. Younger Americans and certain minorities, including Latin Americans and Asian-Americans, historically cast votes less frequently than older citizens,

The first determinant of variation in voter turnout is election differences between states; specifically, voting accessibility, early voting, how competitive the race is, and gerrymandering of districts in the state. Voting accessibility

trails most developed countries in voter turnout” written by Drew DeSilver focuses why the voting-age population (VAP) is low within the United States. According to the Census Bureau there are 245.5 million Americans 18 and older who are eligible voters. While only 157.6 million of these VAP citizens are registered voters. In the 2016 election 55.7% of VAP turned out to vote, this placed the U.S. in 28 out of 35 members of the OECD. DeSilver references that the countries with a high turnout of VAP might be due to the face that in these countries, there are compulsory-voting laws within 24 countries that require their citizens to vote. DeSilver references when Chile took away their compulsory-voting laws their percentage drastically dropped from 87% in 2010 to 42% in 2013 with voluntary voting. Within the U.S voting registration is the responsibility of the individual citizen. DeSilver state “64% of the U.S. voting-age population… was registered in 2016, according to the new census report,” This is different from countries including the UK and Canada who have laws in place that automatically register their citizens. The UK and Canada have 91% of their citizens as registered voters. Around the world VAP percentage turnout is changing the U.S. is consistently at the bottom. According to DeSilver the voting-age turnout since 1976 has remained within an 8.5-percentage-point

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

“There are many things that affect voter turnout in the unites states one of the main factors is demographics, older people 26 and up tend to vote more than the younger voters ages 18-25 because they usually understand the elections more and are not as busy as the younger voters. Other factors of voter turnout are candidates, Making voting compulsory, voter fatigue and voter suppression. About

Data used for this term paper was obtained from Houghton Mifflin Company through the 1996 Voter's Data Set found as part of the Crosstabs package. The dependent variable (rows) I chose to highlight the 1996 U.S. presidential election voting pattern was the Final Voting Choice. The independent variables (columns) I chose were personal traits such as education, income, age, religious affiliations, race, and gender. The data made available by the Crosstabs program was compiled in a statistically scientific way by a national survey of citizens before and after the 1996 election. The objective of this research is to determine which of the personal traits of the electorate has a positive, negative, or an indifferent impact on voter turnout. Therefore, I have made the following five assertions in the below listed hypotheses:

There are many political issues I am passionate about, considering that I am engaged (as much as I can be) in politics and follow the elections and news surrounding it. Issues such as the incarceration rate, college debt, and social inequality are all topics everyone should pay attention to. However, many people don’t. Even if they seem to care, according to the US Census, only 61.8% of Americans voted in the last presidential election. This number is even lower in the 2014 Congressional elections, with only 41.9% voting. These participation rate is trending ever downwards, with less and less people voting each year. I am greatly concerned about the country’s low voter turnout, especially among the young and poor.

Voter turnout have always been a huge issue in politics. It was extremely evident in the past election cycle when private citizens and even celebrities started going door to door and using more platforms to encourage voting in millennials and everyone else over the age of eighteen. However, there has been a growing debate amongst people whether or not voter turnout and behavior is a serious issue in our democracy. Some suggest that is and some suggest that it is not. Personally, I see that it is an issue, especially in local elections. First, we’re going to look into why some say that this is a threat to our country and how it runs. Secondly, we’re going to talk about why some say it is not an issue and lastly, I’ll address my own belief and

Voter turnout is the overall amount of people of whom are able to vote that actually vote. In the United States, the average voter turnout in the entire country is about 50%. That 50% is divided into several different groups: ethnicity, age, gender, and education and income. These different groups each have smaller subdivisions of individuals that show how many of that division vote and why that may be. For example, ethnically speaking, whites have shown to vote way more than Hispanics, but the rate of growth and political diversity of Hispanic people in the country shows potential in adding to the overall turnout. Along with the lowest voting percentage also stands young adults from ages 18-24. This may be because of a lack of interest, not understanding the impact of their