Voter Turnout Analysis
1. The first systematic reason why Americans vote at a lower rate is as a result of registration requirements. In order for Americans to vote, they must be registered, this became necessary so that people wouldn’t try to cast more than one ballot on the day of election. This led to a decline in U.S. elections for the reason that it was no longer as simple as before. Some Americans who tried to vote were held back as a result of not yet being registered, either because they had forgotten or simply didn't know they had to. Although registration is required in other countries as well, the government is in charge of it, but here in America, it is the individual’s responsibility. “Scholars estimate that turnout would be roughly ten percentage points
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In addition, in order to prevent voter fraud, a number of states have made a law that requires citizens to have a photo ID issued by the government, but Democrats believe that it is only to prevent lower income individuals from voting who don’t have passports or photo IDs. The second systematic reason is due to the frequency of election. “The United States holds elections more often than other nations” (Patterson, 2015 p.214-215). In fact, elections are held two to three times as often as Europeans, because of this it is most likely for voters to not participate in all elections. The final reason is due to election scheduling. In America, elections are commonly held on Tuesday which requires adults who work and students eighteen years of age or older to find time before or after work/school to get to the …show more content…
Elections should be held on weekends or even as national holidays because it would greatly increase voter turnout rates. For example, our presidential election turnout is averaged roughly around 60% which means around 3 out of 5 eligible citizens actually vote. I believe that the fact that we hold our elections on Tuesday is a major reason why our percentages average out so low. Reason being that people work and attend school. This means that they either have to try to get the day off, which would be difficult for workers because I’m sure that many others want that day off too and it’s a first come, first serve kind of thing. And for those who attend school, you would have to either not attend or leave early which means you will lose out on your education. Now if elections were held on a weekend or as a national holiday, you would have way more individuals who will have that additional time to get to the polls and vote because they will not be working or going to
In addition, in order to prevent voter fraud, a number of states have made a law that requires citizens to have a photo ID issued by the government, but Democrats believe that it is only to prevent lower income individuals from voting who don’t have passports or photo IDs. The second systematic reason is due to the frequency of election. “The United States holds elections more often than other nations” (Patterson, 2015 p.214-215). In fact, elections are held two to three times as often as Europeans, because of this it is most likely for voters to not participate in all elections. The final reason is due to election scheduling. In America, elections are commonly held on Tuesday which requires adults who work and students eighteen years of age or older to find time before or after work/school to get to the …show more content…
Elections should be held on weekends or even as national holidays because it would greatly increase voter turnout rates. For example, our presidential election turnout is averaged roughly around 60% which means around 3 out of 5 eligible citizens actually vote. I believe that the fact that we hold our elections on Tuesday is a major reason why our percentages average out so low. Reason being that people work and attend school. This means that they either have to try to get the day off, which would be difficult for workers because I’m sure that many others want that day off too and it’s a first come, first serve kind of thing. And for those who attend school, you would have to either not attend or leave early which means you will lose out on your education. Now if elections were held on a weekend or as a national holiday, you would have way more individuals who will have that additional time to get to the polls and vote because they will not be working or going to