Zach Huff
AP Government
4/20/14
Voter Turnout
Voter Turnout in the United States
The issue of voter turnout is not one unique to the United States, however the severity of the problem is. Many other modern democracies have higher percent voter turnout.
Unfortunately many measures to increase voter turnout have been met with roadblocks due to a system designed with politics in mind instead of fair democracy. Voter turnout in the last election was only 36.4% of the eligible population, the lowest since 1942(Jose A. DelReal). This problem is one that concerns Democrats more than Republicans, because most of the suppressed voting population are minorities who would vote Democrat if they could. It is difficult to change public conscious on voting, but even small incremental changes over time would have a huge effect on the political process. Some of the numerous ways to try to increase voter turnout include: trying to get a National Popular Vote to decide which candidates get the electoral college votes of each state, changing and repealing strict Voter ID laws in southern states, and changing the national day of voting.
One large problem, identified by many who care about voter turnout, is our current system of vote counting which leads to misrepresentation . It can be demonstrated that states with lower electoral college votes do not have the same level of voter turnout as states such as
Florida and California. Also, the states that are solid red or blue do not get nearly as much attention as the swing states. A key way to get more people to vote is to have them excited about the political process in their country. When presidential candidates barely even acknowledge

some of the less important states, excitement decreases. Then the problem of political motivation arises. In supposed red or blue states where next to zero campaigning takes place, the political process is twisted. There is not enough motivation to get voters from the opposing party out to the polls, because candidates don't dare waste time in those states. It almost makes these states like a repeat of the primaries, where only the most conservative or liberal voters even turnout. Essentially, the votes of Democrats in red states don't count towards the political process, and thus they may not even come out to the polls. These state's polling numbers are an incorrect representation of the actual demographics. One solution proposed is to create the
National Popular Vote Bill. If a state decides to follow this bill, its electoral votes would be awarded to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and District of
Columbia. This would be a huge improvement to the political process because it would eliminate the unfair campaigning incentives in supposed swing states. Instead, the candidates would be forced to appeal on a national level. Those who did not vote because their state was already decided before they even cast a ballot would finally have their votes count. Under the
National Popular Vote Bill every single vote counts because each one, no matter what state you live in, will make a difference in the popular vote. Now there would be a real incentive to come out to the polls and vote. This action would definitely increase voter turnout.
Even if voters now have the incentive to go out and vote, there may be other road blocks that they have to face. One major problem making its way through the Bible Belt is voter ID and registration laws. These laws are viewed in two competing ways across America and represent opposite sides of the issue. Republicans generally believe these laws are in place to help the voting process by reducing the number of in person voter fraud cases during election season.
Democrats believe these laws were made to target and disenfranchise minority voters in an

attempt to dominate the elections in the Republican's favor(Alec MacGillis). However, there is no doubt that repealing these laws would increase voter turnout. These laws are varied in their implementation, severity and penalty from state to state, however the main goal is to decrease voter fraud by imposing extremely strict regulation. Unfortunately the consequence is lower voter turnout among minorities and the poor. This issue is politically charged, however it is important to refrain from taking a side when purely discussing how to increase the number of people coming out to the polls. The easiest way to increase voter turnout in these states is repeal the laws. This has been done before and has legal precedent. A Pennsylvania judge struck down voting restrictions saying the disenfranchisement of minority voters for which bill clearly intended was unconstitutional(Sari Horwitz). Repealing these laws would allow minority and poor voters who do not have photo ID's that meet the strict requirements to finally take part in the democratic process. Doing so would bring more integrity to the actual elections in these southern states.
If all the laws restricting voters are repealed and the vote becomes a national popular vote, there are still a few issues with getting people to the polls. One major problem that needs to be addressed is the day we vote. Voting on Tuesday is a tradition in America that goes back to the times where voters would have to ride horses and buggies to the polls. They needed time to get to the polls which would take a day, a day to vote and a day to get back. The voting could not interfere with days of worship, so Tuesday was chosen. The problem is, there's no practical reason nowadays for this system. We are no longer a majority agrarian society that needs multiple days to get to the county seat. The problem is, voting on Tuesday is detrimental to voter turnout. Of those who don't vote, the highest percentage cite being too busy as the reason(statisticbrain.com). Tuesday is a workday, which makes it hard for those with more

demanding jobs to get to the polls. This creates a gap between the turnout of the rich and the poor. Those working less paying, longer shift jobs are less likely to be able to head out to the polls on a Tuesday. However, those with more flexible work schedules can easily find time.
This problem is the one with the easiest solution of them all. Simply change the voting day to
Saturday or Sunday. This would allow many of those who cite being too busy to finally get to the polls. There is no logical reason to think that changing the day to a weekend would decrease voter turnout. This solution has been met with backlash from the Republican side in the past.
This is because keeping poor and minority voters from the polls is exactly what they want. Poor and minorities in America tend to vote overwhelmingly Democratic. Overall, changing the voting day to Saturday or Sunday could easily help many voters get out to the polls.
There are many reasons why going out to the polls is a challenge for many Americans.
These challenges include voting days, new strict requirements and a political system that leads to votes that don't count at all. For many with a busy schedule, voting on Tuesdays is too hard. For citizens in historically blue or red states, voting for the opposite party is a vote wasted. Lastly, for many southern voters with lower incomes, these new voter ID laws and restrictions create a hurdle that is not worth the time or effort to overcome for one vote that probably will not make a difference. Statistics show that the United States has consistently ranked below many other civilized countries in voter turnout and these problems are a huge part of that(fairvote.org).
However, there are many ways to fix these problems. From changing the voting day to instituting a National Popular Vote, these solutions offer logical and simple ways to increase voter turnout. If enough people get upset about it, these problems can be addressed. Now that real solutions have been proposed, all that is left is to move forward and help create a more democratic America.

Voter Turnout Works Cited
1. DelReal, Jose A. "Voter Turnout in 2014 Was the Lowest since WWII." Washington Post . The
Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
2. "Voting Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS . N.p., 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
3. MacGillis, Alec. "Republicans Need to Call Off the Voting Wars —for Their Own
Good." Www.newrepublic.com
. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2015.
4. "FairVote.org | Voter Turnout." FairVote . N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2015
5. Horwitz, Sari. "Pennsylvania Judge Strikes down Voter ID Law." Washington Post . The
Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2014. Web. 07 May 2015.
Works Consulted
1.
"National Popular Vote." FairVote . N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2015
2. Underhill, Wendy. "Voter Identification Requirements." Ncsl.org
. N.p., 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 Apr.
2015.
3.
Why Tuesday?" Why Tuesday?
Whytuesday.org, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015