Low Voter Turnout
There are many reasons that account for low voter turnout. First of all, it is evident that there is a decline in public interest for elections. Most American citizens feel that their vote does not matter, and seeing as they lead very busy lives they are not inclined to make time to vote when they feel as if their vote does not count. There also is a decline in the competition between the parties. In the 19th century, when voting rates were higher, the parties fought hard, got voters to the polls, made politics a participatory activity, kept registration simple and looked forward to close and exciting elections. Now a day, this no longer happens. American citizens have no motivation to vote as they once did. They are not made to feel that their vote matters. The many reforms made by the Progressives have also reduced voter turnout (Wilson 145). The adoption of the Australian ballot reduced the high amount of fraudulent voting. The Australian ballot is a ballot printed by the government instead of by the parties and voters are allowed to cast their ballot in secret rather than in public as they were once made to do. This presented a more accurate voter turnout percentage. Voter registration regulations also became
Wilson, James Q. American Government Brief Version. There is also the argument that the decline in voter turnout is more apparent than it is real. The present day voter turnout is not that much lower than it would have been without fraudulent voting. Until the early twentieth century, voter fraud, such as ballot-box stuffing and intimidating voters, was very common. The Australian ballot reduced this. With the elimination of fraudulent voting and alien voting, we now have a true estimate of the voter turnout, most likely what it would have been before the Progressive movement if the votes had been legally cast and honestly counted. Also, if you compare democratic nations in terms of what percentage of their registered voters cast ballots then the United States' voter turnout is not that low, it is actually about 87% in a presidential election (Wilson 145). stricter, eliminating the large number of aliens from voting and cutting back on the number of blacks and transients who voted. The changes reduced not only fraudulent voting, but also voting in general. This is due to the fact that it became more difficult for voters with little education or who had recently moved to register and vote. Single-member districts also discouraged voters (Wilson 145). View: Readings in American Government and Politics. 7th ed. Boston: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998.
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