Why don't more Americans vote?

[lauras 0]

It infuriates me to no end that less than 43% of all registered and eligible voters in this country get their asses to the polls. I really don't understand why it's so difficult to grasp the idea that voting is part and parcel of the democratic process.

OK, I know that sometimes you're left to choose between the douchebag & the turd sandwich (thanks, South Park) but there are always plenty of referendums, judges and other things to decide on that will affect daily life if you really can't bring yourself to vote on the "big" races.

I live in Florida which provides early voting for 2 full weeks before Election Day. Every public library in my county had plenty of signs saying "vote here!" posted generously within a 2 block radius. And yet, less than 41% of all registered voters in Hillsborough County bothered to show up for the party, even with EXTRA time! And there's always the absentee ballot alternative too...

Why is voting looked upon as such a chore? Why isn't it something that more Americans look forward to?

[mnealtx 0]

I can see a few reasons...

1. Apathy: People don't care - as long as they get want they want, they don't care who gives it to them.

2. Similarity: There's no real difference between the two parties anymore except in the more piddlin' details.

3. Disgust: Over the last 15-20 years, campaigns have gone from a "here's where I stand on the issues" to "here's how my opponent is going to screw you over"

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[SpeedRacer 1]

good points here.

But I don't worry about it TOO much. If some people are too stupid & apathetic to vote, maybe it's best that they don't. It means that my vote is worth that much more.

I wouldn't want some moron voting for a candidate just because he likes the sound of their name or something.

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[Nightingale 0]

Honestly, if someone just doesn't care, I'd rather they didn't vote. If they can't bother to get themselves to the polls or mail in an absentee, they probably haven't bothered to do any reasearch on the candidates or the effects of the propositions. I think no vote at all is better than an ignorant one.

Edited to add:

Voting isn't about going to the polls and punching in some selections. It's about taking the time to make an educated choice about the future of our counties, states, and country.

[livendive 8]

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Honestly, if someone just doesn't care, I'd rather they didn't vote. If they can't bother to get themselves to the polls or mail in an absentee, they probably haven't bothered to do any reasearch on the candidates or the effects of the propositions. I think no vote at all is better than an ignorant one.

And that is why over half of my ballot remained blank. I only voted for those issues and candidates that I cared enough to read up on.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[lauras 0]

I'd have to agree with your points, although I'm pretty sure we'd use different analogies .

There isn't a single politician out there that I wouldn't love to kick in the crotch for one thing or another.

[lauras 0]

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Voting isn't about going to the polls and punching in some selections. It's about taking the time to make an educated choice about the future of our counties, states, and country.

Oh, absolutely. It's one of my fondest wishes that people would spend more time researching their candidates and issues than googling their next holiday destination.

[mnealtx 0]

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I'd have to agree with your points, although I'm pretty sure we'd use different analogies .

There isn't a single politician out there that I wouldn't love to kick in the crotch for one thing or another.

Ooooh.... can we get a referendum for THAT on a ballot???

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Nightingale 0]

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Voting isn't about going to the polls and punching in some selections. It's about taking the time to make an educated choice about the future of our counties, states, and country.

Oh, absolutely. It's one of my fondest wishes that people would spend more time researching their candidates and issues than googling their next holiday destination.

I think one of the most important things is to tell people why they should care, why the results of the elections matter to them. The "Rock the Vote" campaign did amazing things to get younger voters to the polls, because it told them why it was important and that their vote really did matter.

[lauras 0]

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There isn't a single politician out there that I wouldn't love to kick in the crotch for one thing or another.

Ooooh.... can we get a referendum for THAT on a ballot???

I'll wear my pointy-toed shoes. Bring your boots.

[TheAnvil 0]

I agree - it is most infuriating. I think the reasons are many.

The average American doesn't read as well as what you and I would expect of a high school graduate. Given that, how can we expect the average American to truly follow and comprehend the political issues of the day? Check out USA Today as compared to a foreign newspaper or the WSJ, or check out Newsweek or Time as compared with The Economist. Night and day - or preschool and college. USA Today is the most popular newspaper in the US, I do believe.

Apathy is another reason - as you stated. It's almost depressing for the educated to go to the polls sometimes and look at their choices. The local elections that have the potential to more directly affect their lives don't tend to get as much attention in the media as the national elections, so apathy for the national level might keep some people away from the polls.

Poll location could be another choice - the library. Many people couldn't tell you where their local library is located. Now if they would require liquor store owners to allow voting booths to be placed there, I'm quite certain a higher turnout would occur. I think anybody who wanted to vote could find out, though.

It is infuriating that we rarely have high voter turnouts. Truly sad.

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[SpeedRacer 1]

http://elections.gmu.edu/turnout_rates_graph.htm

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[TheAnvil 0]

Dude - nice graph. Not even 3/4 of us vote. Really sad.

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[SpeedRacer 1]

Again, it just means that our votes are worth that much more.

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[airtwardo 6]

Why is voting looked upon as such a chore? Why isn't it something that more Americans look forward to?




***


There was an "American Gladiator" marathon on channel 13 and I couldn't break away form the TV!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[wmw999 2,120]

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There was an "American Gladiator" marathon on channel 13 and I couldn't break away form the TV!

Oh man! and I missed it???? Was Nitro on -- I always kind of liked him

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[downwardspiral 0]

I didn't vote this year for a very lame reason. However I did change 5 different individuals votes concerning specific propositions that I cared about by educating them to why I'm right and they're wrong.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[airtwardo 6]

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There was an "American Gladiator" marathon on channel 13 and I couldn't break away form the TV!

Oh man! and I missed it???? Was Nitro on -- I always kind of liked him

Wendy W.

Nitro is always "ON"!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Mostly_Harmless 0]

I find it horrible that we start wars to enable people to vote yet less then half our population does it. People are currently dying to allow a country the right to vote. I voted but I was extremely digusted by the ads out there. As someone said it went from "I will do this.." to "My opponent sucks dick for playing cards...". I will always vote for the president but if the ad campains continue the way they do I won't be voting for congress/senate again. Also if you are a politian, stop leaving recorded messages on my answer machine. I know it's a tall order but it would be 100% better for you if you actually spoke to me.

_________________________________________
www.myspace.com/termvelocity

[Falko 0]

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I will always vote for the president but if the ad campains continue the way they do I won't be voting for congress/senate again.

Why not check out some independent candidate who has his act together and just vote for them? If you're not voting, you leave them the playing field to continue with their mud-wrestling, thus you are contributing to it. (no offense)

I always voted, even for the rather "insignificant" type of elections, and even if I only put my X at the least of evil.

Just imagine, if 20% or 30% of the people would have voted for an another candidate who wasn't a Dem nor a Rep! It'll shift the market and force a little quality back into the system!

Ich betrachte die Religion als Krankheit, als Quelle unnennbaren Elends für die menschliche Rasse.
(Bertrand Russell, engl. Philosoph, 1872-1970)

[Andy9o8 0]

In 2004 voting for the European Parliament, only 45.3 percent of the eligible voters cast a ballot. Statistically on par with the U.S.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/06/14/europe.vote/index.html

In the 2001 UK general election, less than 50% of eligible voters voted - only slightly higher than statistically on par with the US.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/06/07/uk.turnout/index.html

Germany tends to have voting turnout percentages in the high 70's. That's pretty good.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1713767,00.html

In 2006, 83% of eligible Italian voters voted. Also quite good.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/italy/


In 2005, after a full generation of post-Franco democratic government, a record low of 42% of Spaniards turned out to vote in the European Parliamentary elections.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/feb2005/spai-f23.shtml

Contrast that with the 67.7 percent of the eligible Spanish voters who went to the polls in 1978, only a couple of years after Franco's death ended his dictatorship.

http://countrystudies.us/spain/25.htm

Note that the US and the UK are long-standing stable democracies, where the integrity of the rule of law and the democratic process can, justifiably, be taken for granted by their respective citizens. I imagine that leads to some complacency in the electorate. By contrast, Germans and Italians recall a fairly recent history of Nazism and Fascism, so participation in the democratic process is probably held more dear, and not taken for granted, by their citizens. Similarly, plenty of Spaniards voted when their democracy was young and fresh; but complacency had set in 30 years later.

[SpeedRacer 1]

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Just imagine, if 20% or 30% of the people would have voted for an another candidate who wasn't a Dem nor a Rep! It'll shift the market and force a little quality back into the system!

I did! I voted for Kevin Zeese for Senate. He was in the Green Party & I am a registered Libertarian though. But there were no libertarian candidates in my state (Maryland) so the Maryland Libertarian party opted to endorse Zeese, mainly because of Iraq.

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[SpeedRacer 1]

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I find it horrible that we start wars to enable people to vote yet less then half our population does it.

actually its between 50 -65% of people eligible to vote. see my graph above.

still, it could be higher. I used to live in Massachusetts, which often has a significantly higher voter turn out than most of the country. Always a very politically active state, since 1773, actually.

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[Samurai136 0]

The French have a strong tradition of voting. Although it seems to be in a downward trend, for Presidential and Legislative elections they have 70% to 85% voter turn out.

I think they even take the day off work?

"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

[Andy9o8 0]

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The French have a strong tradition of voting. Although it seems to be in a downward trend, for Presidential and Legislative elections they have 70% to 85% voter turn out.

I think they even take the day off work?

Good point, which feeds right into another one of my pet peeves: many countries have election day as a national holiday, or over a weekend, or over a couple of days, and leave the polls open from midnight to midnight. In the US, Election Day is on a Tuesday, it's almost never a holiday for the private sector, and the polls in most states are only open for about 12 or 13 hours, during which most working people are either commuting or at work. Fucking stupid - guaranteed to suppress the number of eligible people who vote. (Case in point: I almost didn't get a chance to vote on Tuesday because I had a very busy, long, hectic day at work that day.)

In My Perfect World, Election Day in the US would be a holiday, and the polls would be open for 24 hours. (P.S. - states like Florida where they have early voting and polls are open for 2 weeks are not a bad way to deal with it, either.)

As to the high percentage of French who vote, I guess the recent memory of having your country brutally occupied by the Nazis for 4 years may be a factor...