Three reasons why voters are not voting in the USA?
Being one of the best democratic countries in the world, the sad truth is that America has very low rates of participation in voting. Despite the best literacy rate, the United States reports one of the lowest voter turnouts among developed democracies. Only 55% voting has been recorded, means only about 6 in 10 eligible voters cast ballots in 2016 presidential elections.
Why people are not ready to vote? People come up with various most common reasons like
– they are very busy on election day.
– we have better works to do than standing in line
– our work don’t give us time off to vote.
– we were out of station on election day.
– the weather was too bad to attend polling.
– we have not registered.
In 2016, almost 25% of registered voters said that they did not like candidates.
Three reasons why voters are not voting in the USA:
1) Millennials (Young voters) are not voting :
Young voters can actually influence the election, they notoriously neglect the importance of voting. Young voters should understand their vote does matter, maybe better than their understanding.
Here are some statistics on youth turnout :
While young people construct a large portion of the voting-eligible population, they’re much less likely than those who are older to get out and vote. In 2016, only 19% of people aged 18-29 cast their ballot in the presidential election; while 49%, 45-64-year-olds accounted for the largest electorate last year.
Majority of young voters are sitting idle while others make major political decisions related to needs of youth. Youth voters need to show their support for the candidates whom they feel can best represent their needs. Remember Millennials’ vote share had played key role in obama’s second time victory as president .Obama won 67% of the national youth vote in 2012.
2) Different registration rules in different states :
To register, someone must go to an official site or a government office. Over 51 million citizens, and nearly one-in-four eligible to vote had not registered.
Many people miss to register for vote for many reasons, so when Election Day comes they are left out of the process and they are not eligible to vote. Each of the states have different set of rules to register for vote. Only few states are allowing voters to register on the election day. In 33 states same day registration is not available.
Voters turn out will be increased if the govt can work on these rules. Easier registration could mean more voting.
3) Third party is the need of the hour :
A candidate from a third party would have to win the majority of votes from their particular area to get the seat in Congress. And many candidates from that party would have to win in many different areas to get enough seats in Congress to pass laws that reflect their party’s values which is an almost impossible task.
So, the minor party candidates are not raising enough funds or campaigning, assuming that no point in putting lot of effort when they have very little chance of winning.
In a two-party system, voters might not find that either candidate represents their views, and might stay home.
As we were discussing about how young voters turnout, in 2016 35% of young voters identified with independent political views, neither Republicans nor Democrats, in the past three presidential elections.
More than half of the USA voters believe that both parties are consistently not doing what’s necessary for the American people and are engaged in revenge politics. So, The Third political party is the need of the hour.
REFERENCE LINKS :
Literacy rate :
https://webcapp.ccsu.edu/?news=1767&data
Rgistered voters and people who are not voting :
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/
Voter apathy – lack of interest in voting (check effects in the united states section for percentages)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_apathy
Youth registed and not voted :
https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/youth-voting
USA india voting percentage comparison (if you want to showcase) :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout