The reasons why so few Americans exercise their right to vote
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The American midterm election results are still being parsed, weeks after the event: was it a blue ripple, or more like a blue tsunami for the Democrats? But one thing’s for sure. Despite record attendance at the polls, still less than half the eligible population voted.
Illustration: Simon Letch.Credit:
Why do so few Americans exercise their fundamental civic duty? An easy answer would be that a lot of them are lazy, or are disengaged from politics, but I don’t think it’s that simple. For a start, voting in the US is not pleasant. Like anything involving public infrastructure there, it doesn’t work very well. There are always long lines – which, ironically, are often trumpeted on social media as proof of democracy at work, rather than its opposite.
Compounding things is that elections are held on a Tuesday. When you consider that nearly 59 per cent of the US workforce are paid by the hour, the decision of whether to stand in a queue when you could be making money to secure your child’s healthcare becomes a complicated one.
Unlike in Australia, where you can vote anywhere within your electorate – and voting outside of it isn’t difficult – Americans are limited to voting in a particular polling location. Anecdotally, many are confused about where that is. And 45 per cent of Americans have no access to public transportation, so getting there isn’t straightforward either.
Article source: http://smh.com.au/nsw/young-teen-received-more-than-600-emails-from-34yearold-posing-as-15yearold-20171013-gz0kx0.html
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