#1. Voter Literacy & Turnout

WHY DO SO FEW CITIZENS BOTHER TO VOTE?  AND WHY ARE WE MAKING IT HARDER TO VOTE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Every four years, less than 55 percent of the citizens vote for who they want as the next President. It is even worse in the midterm elections when less than 40 percent of the citizens vote for Representatives and Senators. Yet in several other industrial nations — Austria (75%), Belgium (89%), and Germany (71%) — the voting may get as high as 70 to 90 percent.

Libertarians could argue that citizens have the right not to vote. There is nothing in the Constitution requiring citizens to vote. They may have good reasons not to vote, such as no candidate addresses their interests, or it takes too much time, or it counts for too little.

WORTH READING:

• What Affects Voter Turnout Rates? [FairVote.org]
• Factors affecting minority-voter turnout [Journalist’s Resource]
• Why is turnout so low in U.S. elections? We make it more difficult to vote than other democracies [MinnPost]
• 5 Ways To Fix America’s Dismal Voter Turnout Problem [Thinkprogress]
• How to increase voter participation in low-turnout communities: Research brief [Journalist’s Resource]
• How Voter Suppression Endangers our Democratic Process [Policy Mic]
• Factors Affecting Voter Turnout [Boundless.com]
• Voter Turnout [IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance]
• Voter Turnout [Indiana University Center for Civic Literacy]
• Low voter turnout is clearly a problem, but a much greater worry is the growing inequality of that turnout [LSE The London School of Economics and Political Science]
• Voter Turnout: A Global Survey [IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance]