Voter Apathy

[Coriantumr]

So I have a essay that I am writing for my college English class. The topic of it is a solution to Voter Apathy and I was curious what ya'll thought about the idea, I really need the feed back.

If you actually look at the voting statistics for this election and the election 4 years ago there was only about 500k more people who voted (give or take) this year. Now the way the media portrays this year election it makes it seem like there was a larger increase on the number of voters whereas there really wasnt if you actually look at the total number who voted (So pretty much there was a 1% or less increase this year)
Anyways, my idea was something like this give a 50 to 100 dollar tax break or just giving 50 to 100 dollars to those that vote. I really don't want to explain all the details that I have come up for this but I would like to get some feed back on this idea.
Thanks

 

[CSM]

So I have a essay that I am writing for my college English class. The topic of it is a solution to Voter Apathy and I was curious what ya'll thought about the idea, I really need the feed back.

If you actually look at the voting statistics for this election and the election 4 years ago there was only about 500k more people who voted (give or take) this year. Now the way the media portrays this year election it makes it seem like there was a larger increase on the number of voters whereas there really wasnt if you actually look at the total number who voted (So pretty much there was a 1% or less increase this year)
Anyways, my idea was something like this give a 50 to 100 dollar tax break or just giving 50 to 100 dollars to those that vote. I really don't want to explain all the details that I have come up for this but I would like to get some feed back on this idea.
Thanks

It is illegal to buy votes.

 

[AVG-JOE]

So I have a essay that I am writing for my college English class. The topic of it is a solution to Voter Apathy and I was curious what ya'll thought about the idea, I really need the feed back.

If you actually look at the voting statistics for this election and the election 4 years ago there was only about 500k more people who voted (give or take) this year. Now the way the media portrays this year election it makes it seem like there was a larger increase on the number of voters whereas there really wasnt if you actually look at the total number who voted (So pretty much there was a 1% or less increase this year)
Anyways, my idea was something like this give a 50 to 100 dollar tax break or just giving 50 to 100 dollars to those that vote. I really don't want to explain all the details that I have come up for this but I would like to get some feed back on this idea.
Thanks

You need to look beyond the raw number of voters in '04 versus '08. The telling story is who voted and why.

My gut feeling (in other words, don't ask for a link, this is my opinion) is that 2004 saw a large turn out of scared right-leaning moderates with apathetic left-leaning moderates on the sidelines and 2008 saw a large turn out of excited moderates leaning to the left with right-leaning moderates apathetically staying home.

-Joe

 

[PackMule]

VOTER Apathy: Politicans have no respect "from" intelligent people. The Increase in voters This Year: Blacks that don't want to vote for any White!
&
Foreigners that can ruin our country, in their own Language.
&
Youth, thinking they are smarter than experanced.

 

[Gem]

Coriantumr Wrote:

Anyways, my idea was something like this give a 50 to 100 dollar tax break or just giving 50 to 100 dollars to those that vote.

While I respect your giving thought to the idea of how to encourage more people to vote...I think that one of the main concepts of our system is that all citizens over the age of 18 have the right to vote...that is the privilege...that is the "reward." You get to have a say in your representation in the government...

If you choose not to make use of that freedom...you may. There is no punishment for not exercising that right. Thats freedom

May I ask why you want to encourage people who obviously don't want to use that right? Considering how uneducated most Americans are about our government and our political processes are....I think that a more important questions (more important than - what can we give people so that they will get off their butts and vote) is "Do we really want EVERYONE who can...to vote?"

Do you want someone to vote if they are voting based on who they think is better looking? Do you want someone to vote if they are choosing their candidate because the candidate promised them something that they could never make good on? Do you want someone to vote when they don't know how long a Presidential term is? Who the Vice-Presidential nominee is? What the candidate they are voting for is claiming to stand for?

While I would not go so far as to say that we should stop uneducated people from voting...I can not support your hypothesis that we should some how provide additional enticements to encourage people to vote. Your right to have a say in your government is the benefit of voting...not some sort of monetary "bonus check."

 

[Coriantumr]

To be honest I really dont care all that much about getting more voter turn out because the system is flawed as is. With the electoral college it really makes your votes not matter as much because unless your state is a swing state your state will usually vote the same way it always does every election.
Though with this essay it is a group project so I didnt have full control of what the subject is going to be but I think that with it I am leaning more toward having like a $50 tax incentive rather then just handing out money to the people. As for when I think they would do this tax incentive would be only during presidental elections. Anyways I have appreciated the response I have gotten to this so far and I would appreciate more feed back

 

[DiamondDave]

To be honest I really dont care all that much about getting more voter turn out because the system is flawed as is. With the electoral college it really makes your votes not matter as much because unless your state is a swing state your state will usually vote the same way it always does every election.
Though with this essay it is a group project so I didnt have full control of what the subject is going to be but I think that with it I am leaning more toward having like a $50 tax incentive rather then just handing out money to the people. As for when I think they would do this tax incentive would be only during presidental elections. Anyways I have appreciated the response I have gotten to this so far and I would appreciate more feed back

I suggest... that if you are in college as you say, that you educate yourself on our system of choosing our government officials...

There is good reason why we have the electoral college in place to choose the executive branch... we have 3 separate ways of choosing the 3 separate branches... the legislative branch is the one chosen by popular vote within the respective districts... to have the checks and balances, we have the executive branch nominating and the legislative branch approving the selected persons for the judicial branch... and with the executive branch we have the electoral college, which gives voices to the states as a whole (so that votes are not just simply lost to the urban/city populace's whim), since we are indeed a republic of represented states...

The electoral college is not flawed... the flaw is in the limited understanding of people who too easily bash it without caring to learn the reason it was put in place

As for your tax incentive... it is still a bribe to vote... hence illegal... and the Presidential election is not more 'special' than any other... all elections are important... and I agree with the sentiment of the other reply that stated that the incentive to vote is held within out collective right and choice to do so

 

[Skeptik]

To be honest I really dont care all that much about getting more voter turn out because the system is flawed as is. With the electoral college it really makes your votes not matter as much because unless your state is a swing state your state will usually vote the same way it always does every election.
Though with this essay it is a group project so I didnt have full control of what the subject is going to be but I think that with it I am leaning more toward having like a $50 tax incentive rather then just handing out money to the people. As for when I think they would do this tax incentive would be only during presidental elections. Anyways I have appreciated the response I have gotten to this so far and I would appreciate more feed back

The electoral college really disenfranchises those of us who live in dark blue or dark red states in the presidential election only.

There are many important issues on the ballot, probably more important than the presidential election, given the electoral college system.

This time around, for example, we Californians might just as well have left the president slot blank, but we had several billion dollars worth of bonds to consider, we had the controversial proposition 8, and we had a widely ignored, but monumental, change in the way legislative boundaries would be drawn. We had local county, city, and school district officials to elect. We had state legislators to elect. It was a long, and important ballot, and one that required some research and thought to vote intelligently.

Given all of that, do we really want to increase the number of voters? Do we want people who base their votes on rumors, falsehoods, political commercials, or blind party loyalty to vote?

 

[Zoom-boing]

Instead of a $50 tax credit, how about having voters have to pass some kind of 'knowledge' test on why they are voting for a certain candidate before they can vote? You know, they have to understand who and what they are voting for. Maybe they wouldn't be so apathetic if they understood these things more. Then again, maybe they would.

 

[GigiBowman]

I hear that this is the first year that there was a 100% homeless vote thanks to Acorn lol

 

[Skeptik]

I hear that this is the first year that there was a 100% homeless vote thanks to Acorn lol

Given the number of bogus registrations, I'd think that ACORN would have brought down the percentage of eligible voters coming to the polls.

 

[Gem]

If we really are discussing ideas about voter apathy and bringing interested people to the vote...how about taking AWAY the right to vote?

Although a terrible movie, the very interesting sci-fi novel "Starship Troopers" dealt with the issue of voter apathy in the past by making voting a true privilege, something that had to be earned.

What if this nation said...since so few citizens take an active role in our democracy, we are no longer going to allow just anyone to vote. If you want the right to make decisions about our government and how our nation is run - you have to serve our nation, either in the military or in some sort of civilian equivalent for 2 years or so. After that, you are a "citizen" and have the rights and privileges thereof - the right to vote, the right to hold office, etc. If you do not want to serve, thats fine too...you can be a "civilian." You receive no punishment for your lack of service, but you do not have the right to make decisions about our country that can effect others since you were unwilling to serve them yourself.

In a way...this is much closer to what our founding fathers intended. They understood that unless you had "a stake" in this nation, i.e. owned property, your vote could be "bought" more easily by promises of what the government could "give you." People with no home, no land, etc. - are more likely to want handouts, things given to them, than people who have worked for what they have. Therefore, our founding fathers only allowed people who had proved than they had a stake in this nation succeeding to vote.

Now...I'm not saying I support this idea...but if your group is going to discuss bribing people with cash or tax breaks to get them to vote....you should probably also discuss whether the opposite makes sense...making voting something you actually have to WORK for...afterall...we all know that when you say you CAN'T have something - it always makes it more attractive.