Voter Turnout Issues
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As executive director responsible for dealing with voter turnout it has become my solemn duty to address this issue and to come up with ways which I can greatly improve the outcome. I started out by first debating about why the turnout rate is so low, and have come to the realization that the problem is rooted in both the political parties and the citizens. Citizens attitudes have always played a large roll in the turnout rate, as well as the attitudes amongst the party platforms, thus having a negative effect on voter turnout over time. However, I have found that there are several ways which reforms may improve voter turnout, which include: a national voting day that is pre-set and agreed by the government, a mail-in voting form, and the most important, the rebirth of involvement between parties. I believe that the best way however, is to not necessarily to just focus on increasing the total number going to the polls, but to focus on why voting is so important, which can be said is because it is our solemn duty as citizens to vote.
When thinking about why voter turnout was so slow, it makes sense that it can only be blamed on two subjects, either the citizens, or with the government (more specifically the political parties). I believe however, that the blame is not solely based on just one of these groups, but that both share the responsibility. When looking back on the early nineteenth century, one can see the importance of political involvement. Granted corruption had plagued the polls, causing many areas of the country to produce false statistics on turnout in hopes to cover up for these scandals, but the practice of more involvement from the platforms was a novel idea. The cause for more involvement was that during this era political party organizations were much stronger as a party system, and more resolute about helping voter turnout. They would take time to help organize people and made sure that many paid a visit to the polls on election day. This enthusiasm and commitment has long become extinguished since then. I believe much of the dieing out of involvement from parties has to deal with the steady decline of parties themselves over the years. Those who now vote during elections tend to base their views more so on the candidate rather than the party, which leads us into the second part about lower voter turnout dealing with citizens. Those citizens who make it to the polls and let their voices be heard should be lauded. As for those who didnt vote, should they be scorned and neglected? Of course not, but rather they need to be further assessed as to why they were unable, or didnt care to vote. So many reasons come into play for this, some of the smaller ones include health, the arduous task of registering and voter fatigue, and the day in which elections are held, but amongst these the more important factors lie from education and what is known as Rational Disengagement. Referring back, health could play a small part because poor health becomes a malefactor that inhibits their ability to go out and participate in day to day activities. Continuing on, another issue is the fact that there are so many different voting opportunities among the local, state, and national levels. By having so many of these different availabilities to vote, it begins to pose as a problem of its own. You have to vote for your governor, state senate, vote on community issues, state funding problems, school based, and so many more occasions arise, that it becomes overwhelming. As people vote continuously it begins to cause fatigue, which in turn makes citizens less inclined to want to further participate in any other political based activities. Another problem is in the fact that election day is held during the middle of the week. With this being the case, many people find that going to the polls relies strictly on whenever you can find time, however, many people find they do have time to vote, but simply turn down the opportunity. I call it an opportunity because being able to vote is the single most direct way of having your views heard and looked after. This view is not understood by everyone though, because many simply dont see voting as an opportunity. This can best be described by Eriksons and Tedkins Rational Disengagement. Erikson and Tedkin go on to describe Rational Disengagement as the theory that, “One persons vote is useless because it is fantasy to assume that a single vote can decide and elections outcome except in the most extraordinary circumstances.” While it is true that one vote may not add up to much, multiplying that one vote by 10,000 other persons “single vote,” or even 100,000 persons “single vote,” becomes a way to impact the outcome of an election. Aside from this interpretation of why voter turnout is low, another is the fact that education is one of the most vital factors into the turnout of voters. Having an education further develops our opinions, ideals, and beliefs, as well as dividing the amount of success of people have within our nation. We all know that those who go to college are given a distinct advantage later on in life. But what many may not know is that going to college instinctively increases voter turnout. Someone who goes to college is expected to gain an array of knowledge, and with this knowledge, is expected to use it in return, which is exactly what happens. Out of all the students that either attended a college, or are attending college, 81% of them turned out to vote, compared to only 57.5% of the students who just attended high or some sort of grade school. Another fact is that out of everyone who is employed 64% of them turned out to vote, compared to only 46% of the unemployed. This shows that having an education gives people a better understanding as to the opportunity at hand involved with voting.
Now that weve discussed reasons for low voter turnout, I will address several solutions to these problems; one of which is to institute a federal and national holiday for voting. One day would be selected and issued by the current government and be declared the official “Election Day.” On this day all businesses would either be closed, or forced to permit to employees to go to local polls to vote. Working alongside with this national voting day, federal funding would be used to provide and care for services of transportation to those who are unable to get around on their own. The services would include bus transportation that would run routes to designated areas (indicated by large fluorescent signs), and back to the polls at the top of every hour. Another service would include a personal taxiing service free of charge. The taxiing service would be run by local taxiing businesses or communities, and the charges would be used for tax write-offs at the end of the year, rather than having the cabbies and companies accept cash