Factors affecting voter turnout
- Created by: hermione
- Created on: 26-12-16 12:54
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- VOTER TURNOUT
- Moving house
- about 1/5 of Americans move to a new location every 5 years
- don't register to vote in their new house
- 'Motor Voter' Act 1993 allows voters to register when they renew or change their address on their driving license - hasn't made huge impact
- about 1/5 of Americans move to a new location every 5 years
- voter fatigue
- so many opportunities to vote in local, state and federal elections, not only for legislative power but also for judicial, referenda and initiatives, revision to state constitutions etc - some of these also hold primaries
- voters may find this annoying or confusing - choose not to participate
- Every two years, we elect a new Congress and, in many states, a new legislature. Every four years, that’s combined with a presidential election. Some jurisdictions squeeze local balloting — for sheriff, school board, judge, coroner, - into the years between midterm congressional and presidential elections. Of course, these are often twice-a-year exercises, since a primary precedes the general election. Sometimes primaries have runoffs!
- so many opportunities to vote in local, state and federal elections, not only for legislative power but also for judicial, referenda and initiatives, revision to state constitutions etc - some of these also hold primaries
- state restrictions
- some states limit the participation of adults who have served a prison sentence or suffered a mental illness.
- 2016 - around 6.1mn adults couldn't vote due to convictions (felon disenfranchisement laws) about 2.5% of voting population
- in Florida, major swing state, more than 10% of voters are disenfran-chised
- maine and vermont have no laws and EVERYONE, including inmates can vote
- can be restored but only by a governors executive action or court order
- alabama, iowa, kentucky, mississippi and virginia
- some states limit the participation of adults who have served a prison sentence or suffered a mental illness.
- don't want to vote
- in many safe states, one party is so dominant that the supporters of the other party don't see the point in voting as there is no contest
- Texas - Rep since 1980
- american elections, especially at federal level, are super pricey so many voters believe that the victor will be more concerned with the needs of their backers than their own and so see voting as pointless
- some voters feel that they make more of an impact through direct participation - pressure groups etc rather than voting
- low participation in elections could be directly related to high participation in pressure groups
- NRA (national rifle association) over 4.5mn members
- low participation in elections could be directly related to high participation in pressure groups
- in many safe states, one party is so dominant that the supporters of the other party don't see the point in voting as there is no contest
- STATS
- 2000: 56% 2004: 62% 2008: 64% 2012: 60% 2016: 55%
- Moving house
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