Voting Behavior and Participation

Participation

• “Turnout” is the proportion of the voting-age public that votes

• About 40% of the eligible voting population votes regularly

• 25% votes occasionally• 35% rarely or never vote

Turnout is important because it can influence the outcome of elections

Your vote DOES count!• The Presidential election of 2000 will

forever be the classic example of the power of an individual’s single vote

• As the fate of the presidency rested on razor-thin margins in the states of

• Many voters (Democrats) in Florida, New Mexico and Oregon probably wished that they had taken the trouble to exercise their right to vote and choose a leader on Election Day

Differences between voters and non-voters

• First, people who vote are usually more highly educated than nonvoters

• Other things equal, college graduates are much more likely to vote than those with less education

• People with more education tend to learn more about politics and are less hindered by registration requirements

So one might argue that institutions of higher learning…

Provide citizens the opportunities to learn about and become interested in politics

Income• There is a relationship between

income and voting• A considerably higher percentage of

citizens with annual incomes over $40,000 vote than do citizens with incomes under $10,000

• Income level is somewhat related to education level…

• And more education also might lead to higher income

• Wealthy citizen are also more likely than poor to think that the “system” works for them and that their votes DO make a difference (high efficacy)

• People with higher incomes find the “opportunity cost” of participation cheaper than do the poor and are more likely to have a direct financial stake in the decisions of the government thus….

Spurring them into action

• By contrast, lower-income people often feel alienated from politics

• Possibly believing that conditions will remain the same no matter for whom they vote (low efficacy)

AgeThere is also a correlation between age and voter participation rates

26th Amendment (this amendment gave 18 year olds the right to vote-1971)

• While this amendment obviously increased the number of eligible voters, it did so by enfranchising the group that is least likely to vote

• Less than half of the eligible 18-24 year olds are even registered to vote!

• Plausible reason for this is that younger people are they are more mobile

• They have not yet put down roots in a community

• Because voter registration is not automatic, people who relocate have to make an effort to “re-register”

• But the good news is…• As young people settle down, get

married and have children, their likelihood of voting increases

Gender

Gender Gap• There have been elections throughout the

20th century where gender was a factor• “gender gap” is the difference

between the voting choices of men and women

• Bottom line is the women are more likely to support Democratic party

• And since there are more women registered to vote, it has become increasingly important for both Democrats and Republicans to seek the votes and support of women

Race• Another voter difference is related to

race• Whites tend to vote more regularly

than do African Americans• This was evident in the last few

elections• Turnout for Whites has been slightly

over 50 percent; for Blacks in the mid-40s depending on the locality

• This difference is due in part to the relative income and education levels of the two racial groups

• Significantly, though, highly education and wealthier African Americans are at least equally likely to vote, and sometimes more so, than Whites of similar background

• Race also helps to explain why the South has long had a lower turnout than the rest of the country

• After Reconstruction, the Southern states made it extremely difficult for Blacks to register and vote

• Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped to change this situation

• Voting Rights Act was intended to guarantee voting rights to African Americans nearly a century after passage of the 15th Amendment

• Often now heralded as the most successful piece of civil rights legislation ever passed, the VRA targeted states that had used literacy or morality tests or poll taxes to exclude Blacks from voting

Two key provisions of VRA(1) Made it illegal to use any voting device or procedure that denies or hinder minority registration(2) authorized Federal government to monitor all elections in areas where discrimination was found to be practiced or where less than 50 percent of the voting-age public was registered to vote in the 1964 election

Impact was IMMEDIATEAfrican American voter registration

skyrocketed

And the number of African Americans elected to public office skyrocketed

So, why is voter turnout so low?

(1) Difficulty in Registration

• Interestingly, of those who are registered, the overwhelming majority DO vote

• The real source of the problem in the U.S. seems to be that a relatively low percentage of the adult population IS registered to vote

Why?While nearly every other democrat country places the burden of registration on the government rather than on the individual, in the U.S. the registration process requires INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE-a daunting impediment in this age of political apathy

RegistrationThus, the cost in terms of time and effort of registering to vote is higher in the U.S. than it is in other industrialized democracies

• many nations automatically register all of their citizens to vote

• In the U.S., however, citizens must jump the extra hurdle of remember on their own to register

(2) Difficulty of Absentee Voting

• Stringent absentee ballot laws are another factor in the U.S.’s lower voter turnout

• Many states, for instance, require citizens to apply in person for absentee ballots, a burdensome requirement given that one’s ability to be present in his or her home state is often the reason for absentee balloting in the first place!

(3) Number of Elections• Another explanation for low voter

turnout in this country is the sheer number of elections, which few if any other democracies can match

• Yet we know that an election cornucopia is the inevitable result of federalism and the separation of powers which results in…

• In layers of often separate elections on the local, states and national levels

(4) Voter Attitudes• Voter attitudes play an equally important

part• Some nations try and get around the

effects of voter attitudes with compulsory voting laws (Australia and Belgium) or by taxing citizens who do not vote

• Not surprisingly, voter turnout rates in Australia and Belgium are often greater than 95 percent!!!

• Alienation afflicts some voters• Some are just plan apathetic• Some don’t think there are pressing issues• Many are turned off by the quality of

campaigns (all this mudslinging)• Rising level of distrust of government

and politicians• My vote won’t make a difference• Why vote? They are all crooked!

And just plain disgusted with government and politicians

• And some political scientists argue that some people are really not that UNHAPPY with the status quo. So why bother changing things?

(5) Weak Political Parties• Political parties today are no longer

as effective as they once were in mobilizing voters, ensuring that they are registered, and getting them to the polls

• Candidate-centered campaigns and the growth of expansive party bureaucracies have resulted in a somewhat more distant party with which most people do not identify very strongly with

So, what can we do to improve voter turnout???

(1) Easier Registration and Absentee Voting

• Registration laws vary from by state, but in every state except three or four, registration is required in order to vote

• Many believe that making it easier to register would help voter turnout

• The typical 30 days before an election registration deadline could be shortened to a week or 10 days

• After all, most people get interested in elections right before the big day

• What about automatically registering all 18 year olds?

• And of course, getting an absentee ballot could be made easier

Motor Voter Bill• In 1993, Congress passed the so

called Motor Voter Bill

• This law required states to permit individuals to register by mail, not just in person

• Law strongly backed by President Clinton, also allowed citizens to register to vote when they visited any motor vehicles office, public assistance agency or military recruitment division

• Proponents of the law said it would result in the registration of almost 50 million Americans of voting age with driver’s licenses or identification cards but who had failed to register to vote

• Critics claim this law is yet another in a long line of intrusive and costly UNFUNDED MANDATES THAT DID NOT APPROPRIATE THE MONEY TO PAY FOR THE COSTS INVOLVED IN IMPLEMENTING THIS PROGRAM

• And we have learned that although millions of Americans DID indeed register to vote, they did not turn out at the polls like everyone thought they would

(2) Make Election Day a Holiday!

How about making it a holiday so everyone is off for the big day!

(3) Strengthen Parties

• Reformers have long argued that strengthening the political parties would increase voter turnout, because parties have historically been the organizations in the U.S. best suited for and most successful at mobilizing citizens to vote

• During the lat 1800s and early 1900s, the country’s “Golden Age” of powerful political parties, one of their activities was getting out the vote on Election Day

• Even today, the parties’ Election Day “Get-Out-The-Vote” drives have increased voter turnout by as many as several million in national contests

(4) Make it MandatoryWhat do you think? Make people vote or they are fined??? Some countries actually have mandatory voting laws

(5) Change the DayWhat about changing the Tuesday to a Saturday or Sunday??? Because Who in the heck decided on a Tuesday for voting day???