What reforms have been made to encourage voter participation?

Question

What reforms have been made to encourage voter participation in recent elections?

Answer 1

Your question is one I get all the time: "What are election officials doing to increase voter participation?"

What has to be understood is that since the 1996 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), we have seen a drop in voter turnout because we have added thousands of people to the voter rolls who have no intention of voting.  Now that we have made it so convenient to register, more and more people register at these other sites--thus removing the election office's opportunity to educate the voters.  We conduct voter registration drives, allow 17-year olds to pre-register, and even have downloadable forms on our website.  Accessibility to registration is no longer an issue.

Here in my state the law requires us to either send sample ballots to each household, or to publish our sample ballot in a newspaper of general circulation.  In our jurisdiction we do both, as well as post them on our website; and still we receive calls from people who "don't read the newspaper," "threw it [the sample ballot] away because I though it was junk mail," and "don't have access to the internet."

Voters can request a "no-fault" absentee ballot here, which is delivered to their homes; voters can go to any number of early voting sites two weeks before an election and vote.  Voters can stop by our office and pick up a ballot for themselves, or for family members.  All of these things make voting more convenient for those who were going to vote anyway, but do nothing to bring more voters to the polls.

The one thing we can't do here (unlike Australia) is MAKE people go vote.  Nothing election officials do will ever increase voter turnout--candidates of quality and important issues are what increase voter turnout.  Our system, unfortunately, has devolved into one where voters don't vote for a candidate because they like them; rather they choose the one they feel will do the least harm during their time in office.

If you truly want to see an increase in voter participation, demand better candidates and keep nonsense issues from cluttering up the ballot.

Answer 2

didn't puff daddy try something, or was that just south park

vote or die *****

Answer 3

Why would you want more people to vote? The general population isn't bright enough to make intelligent decisions on what to eat why should they be encouraged to vote on public policy. The one thing that most likely would drive an increase in voting would be to take it away from people! If you told people they couldn't vote unless they could prove they were smart enough there would be a huge surge in voter participation because people would want to prove they were smart enough!

To the person below who questions who in America believes their vote matters more because of the Electoral College I would submit that all residents of the 22 smallest states (by population) do. The Electoral College exists to prevent the large states from unilaterally electing the President. By giving small states a greater proportion of votes than their actual population dictates you insure that their interest is protected and that large states like CA, TX, NY and FL don't dictate national policy.

Answer 4

I'll tell you of one that needs to be made;

Eliminate the EC!!!

Tell me of a single person in America who believes that their vote matters more with the Electoral College than without it!

Answer 5

Everything from using government funds to support "get out the vote" drives and allowing mail-in votes,  to permitting registration to vote on Election Day itself. Some States also permit voters to register at DMV. We've done everything except holding their hands and walking them to the polls. Even after all this, only half of those eligible to vote are registered to vote. Pitiful!