presentation by dr. kevin lasher. old people vote more than young people highly educated individuals...
TRANSCRIPT
Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher
• Old people vote more than young people
• Highly educated individuals vote more than less educated individuals
• Wealthy people vote more than poor people.
• Partisans/ideologues vote more than non-partisans.
US Turnout in Last Twenty Years
• 50-59% in presidential elections
• 30-39% in off-year elections
• Voting Age Population (VAP) Figures
1) Nature of elections
2) Weak political parties
3) Tuesday Voting
4) Registration laws
5) Apathetic citizens
Nature of elections
Nature of elections
• Numerous elections and many offices
• “Election overload”
• Educational differences point to the complexity of American elections
• Parliamentary systems may have one or two votes
• Multi-party systems have higher turnout than two party systems
Weak Political Parties
• Republicans and Democrats are NOT in the “turnout maximization” business; they are in the business of winning elections
Weak Political Parties
• 100 million voters
• 110 million voters
• 120 million voters
Get 50.1%
Weak Political Parties
1960 2008 Dem 43% Dem 34% Indep 23% Indep 40%Repub 32% Repub 26%
Weak Political Parties
Independents are much less likely to vote on election day than partisans (Republicans or Democrats)
Weak Political Parties
• Both parties have put more emphasis on voter mobilization in the last 10-15 years; may account for slight increase in turnout in last few elections
Tuesday Voting
• Raises “costs” of voting
• 1872 congressional law placing second Tuesday in November
• Many countries vote on week-ends
• Create a National Voting Day (every two years)
• Holiday or week-end voting might increase turnout by 5-7%
Registration Laws
• You must be registered to vote in order to vote
• “Costly” to register
• Used to be many restrictions on registration (most eliminated)
• It is VERY EASY to register to vote in 2014
• 1993 Motor Voter Law which enabled registration in many government offices
Registration Laws
• Registration rates have risen
• BUT percentage of registered who actually vote has fallen
• So easy to register that we have included a lot of “iffy” potential voters
Same Day Registration
Same Day Registration
• Nine states used SDR in 2012 election
SDR States 69%
Non-SDR States 58%
Every state using SDR would add 5-7% in overall turnout
Same Day RegistrationStates with highest turnout in 2012
MINNESOTA* 76.4%
WISCONSIN* 72.9%
NEW HAMPSHIRE* 70.9%
IOWA* 70.6%
MAINE* 69.3%
Vermont 67.7%
Maryland 67.3%
Virginia 66.5%
* SDR state
Apathetic Citizens
• No mandatory voting in US
• People are free to exercise their “right” to not vote
Apathetic Citizens
• Alienated citizens who are turned off by the nature of political campaigns or who honestly do not like the two main choices they are given
• These alienated voters could be “mobilized” with better campaigns (or better candidates)
Apathetic Citizens
• Truly apathetic citizens who do not care about politics
• Nothing will convince these people to participate (and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing)
Apathetic Citizens
• “Perfect voting turnout system” ….
• 80 - 85 % Turnout ?