Fewer People Vote Today

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Fewer People Vote Today Than Decades Ago
According to Howard Friedman, the United States of America has the lowest voter turnout amongst the wealthy countries. It is noted that Belgium leads the group with 93% representation while the United States lags behind with 38% (Friedman, 2012). Despite the massive resource investment in the voting exercise and removal of legal obstacles of voting, the country currently records dwindling number of citizens participating in the process vis-à-vis the situation over five decades ago. With the improvement in technology, the voting process is effectively monitored and evaluated by storing factual data throughout the procedure. Nonetheless, voter apathy remains a big problem in the United States despite …show more content…
For instance, the ID law had been a serious obstacle to voting since the law required an individual to produce a legal identification document before voting. Previously, such regulations had dire effects on the voter turnout as many people may not have the legal forms of identification. Similarly, the law prohibited immigrants from voting, especially when they have not been granted citizenship. Nevertheless, various changes have been made to the regulations as more people are granted citizenship. Lastly, registration of voters has been extended, to ensure many people are registering in preparation for voting. For instance, although the legal obstacles have for a long time made it difficult for women and the minority to vote, laws have been enacted to ensure that every American citizen, regardless of gender, disability or status in the society get a chance to …show more content…
However, voter turnout is reducing with each passing election. It is noted that Illogical excuses, pessimism, misleading polls and societal ignorance are some of the reasons for the situation. Therefore, focusing on annihilating such issues will impact change of the situation. References
Friedman H. S. (2012). American voter turnout lower than other wealthy countries. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/voter-turnout-europe-america_b_1660271.html
Grover, S. C. (2011). Young people's human rights and the politics of voting age. Dordrecht: Springer.
Leighley, J. E., & Nagler, J. (2013). Who votes now?: Demographics, issues, inequality and turnout in the United States. New York, NY: Princeton University Press.
Renshon, S. A. (2009). Noncitizen voting and American democracy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Pub.
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