Can We Do Better?

Turnout in the 2008 presidential election was 61.7 percent of eligible voters. There are still significant numbers of nonvoters. America claims to be "the world's greatest democracy" so the question must be asked, can we do better? 

The campaigns, parties, aligned organizations, and many other groups all work to encourage people to vote.  The debacle of Florida in 2000 reminded voters that voting can indeed make a difference.  2008 saw the highest turnout since 1968 as 61.7 percent of elegible voters turned out.  Four states had turnout of greater than 70 percent of eligible voters: Minnesota (78.2%), Wisconsin (72.5%), Maine (71.4%) and New Hampshire (71.3%).

However, at the other extreme were Hawaii (50.5%), West Virginia (50.6%) and Arkansas (53.4%).  Clearly there are still a large number of non-voters.  Many reasons have been advanced to explain why so many Americans decline to engage in the most basic act of civic participation.

First, many Americans say they are too busy.  A 1998 Census Bureau study found that among those who were registered but did not vote in the 1996 campaign, 21.5 percent said they did not vote "because they could not take time off of work or school or because they were too busy."

Complex voter registration requirements were thought to be one cause deterring people from participating, and in 1993 Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter) to make it easier for people to register.  However, simplifying registration has not led to dramatically higher participation. 

In an effort to increase voter turnout, individual states have been trying measures to make it easier to vote, such as early voting, voting by mail, and liberal absentee ballot rules.  Some observers have suggested that weekend voting be implemented nationally.  Why Tuesday?, a 501(c)(3) organization, formed in 2005 to advance weekend voting and was active during the 2008 cycle.

Another remedy may be to improve or expand the choices available to voters.  Competitive races create greater interest and boost participation.  Credible third party challenges, notably Ross Perot's candidacy in 1992 and Jesse Ventura's gubernatorial campaign in 1998, have brought high turnout.  A number of states have extremely restrictive ballot access laws, and changes to these laws could introduce additional viewpoints and enliven the debate.  Likewise, different election models such as instant runoff voting and proportional voting rather than winner-take-all in legislative races may help to empower voters.

Another possible explanation for low voter turnout is the the tone of campaigns.  Poll-driven rhetoric begins to sound the same after a while, thirty-second spots are not a very effective way to conduct a reasoned discourse, and attacks are not likely to encourage people to turn out at the polls.

Besides the parties', campaigns' and their allies' efforts to bring out their own supporters, a host of nonpartisan organizations have sought to raise the turnout of voters, often focusing on specific demographic groups.  Many efforts focus on youth, including  the National Student/Parent Mock Election, Kids Voting USA, the PIRGs' New Voters Project, and Rock The Vote.  There are other groups seeking to encourage turnout among African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, low income voters and members of the faith community.   One organization which attracted considerable noteriety in 2008 was ACORN.  For almost forty years ACORN had sought to organize low- and moderate-income communities, but in 2008 there were a number of instances where the group was involved in falsifying voter registrations, and it became a magnet for criticism from Republicans and the right, ultimately filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Nov. 2010.

Efforts of organizations working on civic engagement and voter participation range from 30-second public service announcements (PSAs) that contain slick get-out-the-vote messages to grassroots drives in which people go door-to-door in targeted neighborhoods.  Person to person contact, particularly from family, friends and neighbors is especially effective.  In addition to organizations which encourage people to register and vote, there are "election protection" efforts which seek to counter activities which might intimidate voters or suppress the vote.

Finally, it must be remembered that voting is only a first step, a minimum level of participation.  The real challenge is not just to increase the number of voters, but to ensure citizens are informed about the choices they make.  Groups such as Project Vote Smart and the League of Women Voters as well the news media do work in this area, but there remains room for improvement.