PlainSite :: Problem :: The voter turnout rate is very low.

The voter turnout rate is very low.

469 Views / Posted by Kyle Halgerson

The voter turnout in the 2010 federal elections was less than 42%. As the majority of eligible voters do not vote, the majority of the democratic power in the US is concentrated in the far wings of the political spectrum that are politically motivated enough to vote. Furthermore, those types of people are the most receptive to the hard-line party propaganda that limits support for bipartisan cooperation.

http://elections.gmu.edu/Turnout_2010G.html

Supporters: Kyle Halgerson, Brian Sperling, Nathan Bouscal, Kyle Rutland

Opponents: None

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William Hughes / November 2, 2011 at 10:23 PM DT

Make election day a paid Federal holiday, or...

Move election days to Saturday or Sunday, or...

Change from election _day_ to election _week_

Expand voting eligibility to 15 year olds.

Establish on-site, same-day voting registration national law for all elections.

Solutions

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6		Make Election Day a Federal Holiday
		Establishing Election Day as a Federal Holiday would immediately free all Federal employees to vote without missing work, and would pressure other employers (both private and public) to follow suit. The Federal government cannot establish a paid holiday for anyone other than Federal employees, but it's clear that other employers take their cues on holidays from the Federal government.
2		Establish on-site, same-day registration as national law for all levels of election
		Many people cannot vote because of labyrinthine voter registration processes, poll relocation, non-standard eligibility restrictions, and other factors that serve to suppress the ability of eligible citizens to vote. Votes cast by on-site registrants could be set aside as provisional and used to determine the outcome only in races where the number of on-site registered ballots could make a difference. A streamlined vetting process can likely be found in states that already have successful on-site voter registration.
1		Require that all people legally eligible to vote in federal elections do so.
		All US citizens over the age of 18 that are not rendered ineligible to vote due to the commission of a crime are required to vote in all federal elections. Voting in party primaries, state elections, and local elections is not required by this bill, but instead are subject to the laws of individual parties, states, and local governments. In order to minimize the hassle of voting, the process of obtaining an absentee ballot should be streamlined.
1		Move election day to the weekend or spread election time over multiple days
		One of the large roadblocks to voting is the work schedule. Most people have weekends off (thanks, unions), which would make voting easier. Alternatively, moving to a voting period larger than one day (usually a 12-16 hour period within that day) would enable more people to vote.


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