Discussion Post #5

Pd 5
I believe that people have very little incentive to vote these days. We look upon the elections of 2000 and 2004 and the voter turnouts were not any near 100 percent. I believe that we the people are just too unconcerned about the President and that we just think that we can leave it up to the adults or other demographics to elect the president (we as in us teenagers). Of course im not saying all teenagers would do this im just guessing that most of us would. I believe we need more incentives to increase voter turnouts. The government should focus on each demographic. For teenagers the Government could send letters about each candidate's policy that could affect teenagers only. The parties should definately target the people through the media and the internet such as posting ads about their candidates on MTV or myspace or facebook...etc. I believe that Voting is not required, rather, it is a responsbility that we should partake in. Voting is like a gift from this country and that we should not be required to vote jsut because the voter turnout is low. I mean honestly, we're soo blessed to be in a country to even have the right to vote or to not. Most countries require all their people to vote or consequences face them.

I believe the voter turnout is only at 64% because some people think that their one vote doesn't count, and if more than 150 million people say that, then their goes 50 percent of the people. So many people think that if they vote for a candidate and the candidate doesn't win then their vote really doesnt matter and that they stood in line and exerted effort for nothing. It is better to have tried and failed then never to have tried at all. The parties can, instead of making commercials about eachother and running ads that bash eachother, they should run commercials and send the message to get out and vote, because if they don't someone else is deciding how their lives will turnout, and then when all is said in done, they will wish they would have spent some time to elect who they wanted. In Australia it is a federal law, that every citizen must vote. I think that it is a good idea, but people might contest it because they want to protect a citizen's constitutional right to freedom of expression, which constitues, not voting. And also, a lot of people would be angry that if they didn't vote, they would get fined. In this election, the african-american vote was up 2% from 2004 to 13% of the electorate, and they unanimously voted for Obama, only about 5% nationaly voted for McCain. Correlation does not prove causation, which means, that just because Obama is black does not mean that that is why they voted for him. Black voters accounted for 23% of Obama's vote. Also, the young vote made up about 18% of the electorate and most of them voted for Obama as well.

I agree with Sam, that we shouldnt vote just because the turnout is low. There is no reason to blindly vote. Voting, like Sam said, is a gift from our Forefathers and our country. We should be honored to partake in an event that will change our lives as Americans forever. To clarify my statements, i didn't mean to sound like I wanted people to vote for the heck of it, but instead i want them to understand the candidates views and make decisions on their own instead of being oblivious to whats going on. I agree with Sam that candidates should make ads on the outlets that affect each demographic. But, they shouldnt just make ads about themselves, like i said, they should encourage people to vote, and tell them why their vote matters, and that a couple of hours on one day or even a mail in ballot could affect the rest of their lives.

Knowing that the election turnout this year was about 64%, i think that it is a great thing. Thinking of how many people we have in America and how many of them can vote that is an incredible turnout. I looked into the past elections turnouts and i was not really that impressed. This turnout was awesome. Now how could we get more people to vote? I think that this election was very publisized. Going off of what same was saying I do think that everything was displayed on Myspace and MTV. Concerning the young people of America it truly comes down to your self discipline to vote.

The turnout being 64% is kind of low for my liking. Although 64% of our country is still quiet a good amount. A way to get alot more people to come out and vote would be for there to be almost no line to vote. I didnt want to stand in line just to vote for someone who may not even help ME out. If you make shorter waiting times for the people to stand in there will mostl likly be a better turn out.

alex period 5

well 64% kinda sucks. But still there was an overwhelming amount of black voters that came out. 95% of the black community voted for Obama, thats a lot of votes. I think Obama was able to relate to the black community (other than the fact he was black himself). I think to have more people to come out and vote they need to relate to certain groups of people. Although this is easier said than done. I also think that required voting should not be implemented. Even though voting is your patriotic duty, you shouldn't be forced. I know many people who didn't like either candidates. If they were forced, they would just vote arbitrarily with no thought. NOBODY WANTS RALPH NADER AS PRESIDENT.

period 5

i agree with riley. I can see how the voting lines suck. I see that on the news and im like, no way. Im sure thats how many other people are too. Also i think the reason why voter turnouts are low is because either people cannot get out of work in time, don't care about voting, think their vote won't matter, or they are not registered. I think a way to remedy the situation is to make incentives to vote. I think the early mail in ballets are a great idea; you can vote early and think your decisions over, all in the comfort of your own home. Also i think they could do a new voter registration. Many people think that it takes too long or its annoy to have to continuously renew their registration. They could probably find a new way to allow citizens to vote. I also think if they want to get everyone to come out they should have entertainment there, make it an enjoyable experience.

Only sixty-four percent of the voters voted this year. This could be due to the lack of interest in voting, not wanting to wait in line, or having no interest in the candidates that were running. To increase the voting turnouts, the media should create a system to make voting more convenient for the people. Minimizing voting lines, making an easier process in voting, and making registration easier could increase the voting turnouts. Voting should not be required because voting is a privilege and if they are not willing to do so then we should not be concerned. If voting was a requirement then most of the people that were not interested in voting would vote without really thinking much about who they are voting for and might vote for the one candidate that looks most appealing to them.

Only sixty-four percent of the voters voted this year. This could be due to the lack of interest in voting, not wanting to wait in line, or having no interest in the candidates that were running. To increase the voting turnouts, the media should create a system to make voting more convenient for the people. Minimizing voting lines, making an easier process in voting, and making registration easier could increase the voting turnouts. Voting should not be required because voting is a privilege and if they are not willing to do so then we should not be concerned. If voting was a requirement then most of the people that were not interested in voting would vote without really thinking much about who they are voting for and might vote for the one candidate that looks most appealing to them.

Only sixty-four percent of the voters voted this year. This could be due to the lack of interest in voting, not wanting to wait in line, or having no interest in the candidates that were running. To increase the voting turnouts, the media should create a system to make voting more convenient for the people. Minimizing voting lines, making an easier process in voting, and making registration easier could increase the voting turnouts. Voting should not be required because voting is a privilege and if they are not willing to do so then we should not be concerned. If voting was a requirement then most of the people that were not interested in voting would vote without really thinking much about who they are voting for and might vote for the one candidate that looks most appealing to them.

Here's a website that has turnout from 1960 and onwards.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html

You can see the decline happening all the way up to 2008. If you notice the 2004 election only had 55% as compared to this years 64%. Quite an impressive jump. The reason I always have explained to me why we don't have 90% or more is that of laziness. Many people don't simply understand how the president effects the nation. However, after eight years of Bush Jr. we understand how the president can ruin the country. Hence the 10% jump. If Obama does a good job people will probably do less to change the president. Voter turn out is almost directly related to the presidents term before hand.

Voter turnout has been actually significantly better than in past years, but even with this knowledge 64% is a low number. Apathy is what makes many people find voting either unecessary or to think that their votes don't matter.

In order to increase voter turnouts there are things the media and the government can do to help. One of the biggest problems voters find themselves in is the media's role in election day. Many stations begin posting results long before the polls ever close. When voters see that their candidate is either winning or losing, it can cause them to do one of two things; voters will either become discouraged and think their vote won't help their candidate win, or it can cause voters to become cocky and think they don't need to vote becuase their candidate is so far ahead. If news and media stations weren't allowed to post results until after the polls close, more people would vote.

Another way to increase voter turnout would be to eliminate the electoral college. Many voters feel it is unnecessary to vote because the popular vote makes up less than 1% of the decision making behind electing the president. For example, states such as Texas, Arizona, and Utah are all well-known conservative states. Conservative voters in one of these states might feel voting unecessary because they know the electors will give their votes to the conservative candidate.If people's own personal votes actually counted then it would give people an incentive to want to vote.

I dont believe voting should be required. If everyone who was elligible to vote did, there would be a lot of horribly uneducated votes being cast. Elligible Americans should never be kept from voting becuase it is their right to be able to elect their officials, but if everyone was required to vote, people who know nothing about the Presidency or don't care will be forced to vote. It is our right as citizens to vote in our president, but making people do it is not the way to go about things.

In this election more than 23 Million voters were under the age of 30 and the youth turnout had an increase of more than 50% since the 2004 election

I agree with Alex. If people were to be forced to vote for a candidate many would randomly select a candidate without any thought which only goes against everything the framers of the Constitution stood for and believed in. They gave us the ability to vote for whoever the we choose (or don't choose), so forcing people wouldn't make any sense.

I disagree with rebehka, I don't think the media should have anything to do with the convenience of voting for Americans. The News is there to report it not to make it.

I also agree with Sam L. Many people simply do not care about elections. In a few months, many of the extra people who decided to vote this year won't even care about the election in a couple months and everyone will get sucked back into their own lives.

I agree with Alex. If people were to be forced to vote for a candidate many would randomly select a candidate without any thought which only goes against everything the framers of the Constitution stood for and believed in. They gave us the ability to vote for whoever the we choose (or don't choose), so forcing people wouldn't make any sense.

I disagree with rebehka, I don't think the media should have anything to do with the convenience of voting for Americans. The News is there to report it not to make it.

I also agree with Sam L. Many people simply do not care about elections. In a few months, many of the extra people who decided to vote this year won't even care about the election in a couple months and everyone will get sucked back into their own lives.

I think that the reason that the voter turnout was at 64% is because the people who did vote just wanted to get pres. bush out. i think that the 36% didnt vote because many still arent registered. i also think that many were just lazy; some probably couldnt vote because they were at work. in order to increase a voter turnout i think that they should open up more voting areas because then people get stuck in long lines; some people just dont have the patience to wait. Voting shouldn't be required to vote because then the people who don't care about politics wouldn't vote properly and then everything would just get messed up.

I agree with Tyler in the fact that more people will vote if they think they have to to change what is going badly. As with George W. Bush, people had preconceptions about the Republican Party and John McCain's relationship with George so many people decided to change their minds about the President because they dont want someone who they think will be the same. Tyler is right when he says that the way the President leads the country and the decisions he or she makes will affect voter turnout. A large voter turnout most likely means the President is doing a poor job, a smaller voter turnout means the President is doing a good job.

I agree with Austin. This election was really well publicized, however stations such as MTV and VH1 have made encouraged people to vote, but have not educated people about the issues. If these TV stations would help people be in the know about the issues, then more educated votes would be cast.

I agree with Alex. If voter registration was easier to do, then more people would be inclined to register in the first place. Many people are just simply too lazy to re-register for every election; especially if they dont actually care about the outcome.

period 5

I agree with Alexa about MTV and VH1. I think a lot of networks have encouraged youth and other people to vote. For about two years I have been annoyed by those repeated commercials to vote, so its unlikely that no one was affected. I also agree with Alexa when she says that the networks should also educate people on the issues. I know that myspace certainly tried to do so. They posted many election videos, debates, and speeches from the candidates. I also agree with Tyler when he said that the election turnout is related to the term preceding it. I think if the country feels that the previous president sucked, they might come out and vote against that party, whereas if they believe the president did well they might vote for and the turnout won't be as great.

I don't understand why everyone thinks that is so low? in the past it has been even lower. And you also have to take into account how many are citizens but can't vote? The elderly, the homeless, the young americans (17-18), not even knowing whats going on. Would you rather have a 64% poll turnout and people actually knowing what there voting for or like a 90% poll turnout and have the people vote on a topic that they really don't care about and vote at random?

First of all, 20th century, has always been relatively low. In the 19th century, in fact, voter turnout by percentage was lower than it is today. In some democracies, like Belgium and Australia,France voting is in fact mandatory: failure to vote results in fines. Personally, I don't think this is a particularly good idea--if we force our citizen to vote, is it really a democracy?

A second and better alternative is to change the voting day many people didn't register in time.. Tuesday--and in fact any weekday--is a uniquely absurd time to hold an election; no other democracy does so. A Saturday or Sunday--or better yet, the entire weekend--should and could be set asidem they can also vote in internet that will be a good idea i don't really think people would want to wait for hours in line to vote .

Another way in which to improve turnout would be to have everyone register automatically when they get their Driver's License.

One last thing to consider: most voting precincts are not set up to deal with more than 70-75% turnout. Some precincts even less than that. Any attempts to increase voter turnout have to be coupled with an improvement in the process of voting.
They can also let the immigrant vote there is a lot of people of different countries that can't really vote, they have to stay 5 years to be a citizen , they should change that too.

First of all, 20th century, has always been relatively low. In the 19th century, in fact, voter turnout by percentage was lower than it is today. In some democracies, like Belgium and Australia,France voting is in fact mandatory: failure to vote results in fines. Personally, I don't think this is a particularly good idea--if we force our citizen to vote, is it really a democracy?

A second and better alternative is to change the voting day many people didn't register in time.. Tuesday--and in fact any weekday--is a uniquely absurd time to hold an election; no other democracy does so. A Saturday or Sunday--or better yet, the entire weekend--should and could be set asidem they can also vote in internet that will be a good idea i don't really think people would want to wait for hours in line to vote .

Another way in which to improve turnout would be to have everyone register automatically when they get their Driver's License.

One last thing to consider: most voting precincts are not set up to deal with more than 70-75% turnout. Some precincts even less than that. Any attempts to increase voter turnout have to be coupled with an improvement in the process of voting.
They can also let the immigrant vote there is a lot of people of different countries that can't really vote, they have to stay 5 years to be a citizen , they should change that too.

From looking at last years voting turnout percentage to be only 55%, i believe that 64% is great. This election was very publisized, which i think was great in some ways. They have celebrities telling people to vote and myspace. All of that is great but i think the point was to get people to actually want to research and choose for themselves why they stood for that person. I think a lot of the election was a fad that young people wanted to be apart of. they didnt care about the election, they just wanted to be in the loop of everything. I dont think the parties could have done anything different, it was mostly the media.

I believe the voter turn out was so low due to the fact that people think that their vote doesnt count. If the governement had a "go vote" campaign like celebrities do, the turn out would be more widespread. I think that if somehow we found away to be able to vote online, there would be a greater turn out and if the government assured voters that their vote does count and their voice will be heard.

I 100% agree with everyone that says they'd much rather have a lower turn out than a higher uninformed turnout. When we started the nation the electoral college was created because our founding fathers decided that the people of America were idiots and didn't understand the issues. Personally I feel we as a nation still have that problem today. To many people I know, most not old enough to vote, just wanted to vote Obama because he is black. The media needs to focus less on what the presidents are eating for lunch and more on what they plan to do with the nation. I feel the best course of action to have more informed voters turn out is to have a truly just and honest media. To vote uninformed is to waste a vote.

there are 3 major reasons why people dont turn out to vote
1. Alot of people look at the cannidates and see the same thing that they saw 4 years ago so what is the point in voting if there is no major differnce in the cannidates
2. People dont feel that there vote counts and realy it doesnt becuase of the electoral college
3. They just dont care
there is also 3 easy ways to fix this
1. Lets get some real people running for president not the same suit in tie people we have had for hundreds of years
2. Get rid of the electoral college and make people feel like there vote is important
3. Well you cant fix people not caring unless less you try to show people that these election do have a lasting effect and they are somewhat in control of the election and the only way to do that is to do the two above

pd 5
I have to agree with Marman who also agreed with me...Voting is a great honor for us...I believe that if we stop wasting our responsibilities and start voting more often, we can see how powerful our gifts are. We should def put more ads on the tv and media for people to see how important it is to vote.

pd. 5
umm...yea...sorry marwan...i messed up your name and said marman....sounds like...mermaid man...but long for marman....sorry marwan...lol

Well there are several reasons as to why the voter turn out is only 64 percent this election. One of these reasons is people, in general, are either too lazy to make their way to the election booths, or just don't care. However, with this election in particular I think it has to do with the candidates that voters had to select from. Many Republicans felt that John McCain was just too liberal a candidate to be voted for, so they decided not to vote at all. Had Hillary Clinton been elected instead of Barack Obama, there would have been many more Republicans that had voted.. Perhaps enough for John McCain to win. This is because Republicans loath Clinton with their entire being, whereas many are indifferent towards Obama. I'm not sure exactly what can be done to have a greater voting turn out, but I don't think anything should be done. The people that vote now are the people that care enough to do so. There shouldn't be a reward or incentive to vote, people should vote because they care and because it's their patriotic duty. If it was made easier to vote, then more people that don't really care would be voting. Like the early ballots that people get in the mail.. those are dumb in my opinion. Everyone should have to go to the voting booth. Soon it'll just be something you can email in, and that'll just throw the system because more uneducated people will vote just because it's easy.

Voting should definitely not be required. If it were required then people that don't know anything would be voting.. And most likely just jumping on the bandwagon. That would just be a mess. I don't think everyone should vote, I think educated people with support for their opinion should vote..... If they're Republicans.

As far as the voter turn out amoung groups, I'll cover age, face, and gender. NBC reports show that had anyone younger than 30 not voted, McCain would have only further won Indiana and North Carolina and lost the election. Had no Latino people voted, McCain would have only further won Indiana and New Mexico. Had no black people voted, McCain would have further won Indiana, Floria, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennslyvania, and Virgina. He would have won the election. It also states that Obama would have lost the election if not for the women vote. Further statistics indicate 61 percent of Obama's votes came from white voters; 90 percent of McCain's came from white voters. 23 percent of Obama's votes came from black voters; only one percent of McCain's came from African American voters. Latino voters accounted for 11 percent of Obama's vote and six percent of McCain's. 23 percent of the Obama voters were under age 30 but only 13 percent of McCain voters were.

There's a lot of different numbers on the support the black community provided for Obama, but most show the percentage of blacks that voted for Obama to be in the mid 90's. It appears as though some of them were a bit biased.

Finally, I have to back my boy up and say Tyler, George W. Bush was a fantastic president, he didn't ruin the country.

Rrr I'm the anonymous person that just commented.

I would have to agree with Ariel,to some degree. I think the main reason why only 64% of the voters voted was because of the candidates. You have two men form both political parties and one is very well with communication and the other not as much. Of course the one with communications skills will win. Although this presidency turned out for the worst think of it this way. There will be one in four more years plus it's not possible for him to win two terms unless he is amazing. Voting for those who care and it should stay like that.

It was better than usual, and that was because we had more distinction between the choices. Both candidates were good choices to at least 64% of persons capable of voting. The closer we come to having good candidates, the more we will see an increase in voter turnout.

This voter turn out was higher than normal because the election was one of the most important elections the United States has ever had. The past eight years has effected numerous amounts of people and that made individuals want to change the way the country was going. The reason it was not as high as it could have been was because some poeple did not support their parties candidate and would not vote because of it. Also many believed because of the numbers Obama produced on the polls they did not need to go vote because the election was already over. The way to increase voter turn outs is for the parties to back candidates that are not typical candidates. They should back poeple who do not vote or represent a typical republican or democrat. Also voting is a choice and should not be mandatory. Some poeple do not understand the oppertunity they have in voting but it is their choice whether or not to vote.

For the 2008 election, I think that 64% is a wonderful turnout. It's better than nothing, right? I think that the people who should vote are the ones that are educated about what they are voting for. I especially do not think someone should vote based on the things they hear from their peers or relatives- a voter should have their own opinions and ideas. So, in my opinion, the turnout was fine, as long as the people who voted were educated, and had reasons as to why they voted a certain way. I do not think that voting should be required, but people should be better educated on what they may possibly be voting for. Maybe if the people in this country were better educated about the issues, then we would have a better voter-turnout.

I think that one reason that the turnout was only 64% is just because so many people just flat out dont care. There are so many people out there who are all about themselves and they think that this doesnt really help them if they go vote so they have no incentive to. Truthfully I dont know if anything can be done to increase the voter turn out. It is always going to be an optional thing and because it is optional there will always be people who just wont do it. In comparison to prior years it was much higher this year but if you keep going back it was even higher before that. I think that people have lost the sense of national pride and feel that voting just isnt a big deal for them

I believe the voter turnout is only at 64% because some people think that their one vote doesn't count, so they just don’t vote and then the president they wanted and probably would have became president ends up not becoming president. Thinking of how many people we have in America and how many of them can vote that is an incredible turnout. I believe the reason to why everyone got involved in this election is because it was shown up everywhere. Especially since one of the candidates was a black male. He wanted change and that’s why he got a lot of votes.

I think the voter turnout was at 64% because not everyone could have gotten to a poll in time to vote. Also some people may have not voted at all because they may of thought that their vote did not count. What could be done to increase the voter turnout is telling people that all their votes do count. What the parties can do to increase the turnout is that instead of having signs or ads that say that the people should get out there and vote. Voting should not be required because even if you did signed up to vote does not mean that you can make it to the polls the day of voting.

I believe that the turnout was at 64% because there are still a number of people in our country that just don't give a damn about what happens. Another major contributor would be the amount of foreign company that we have present in our country. We are so vast in our cultures that many don't take or have the time to be informed on the present presidential issues. I don't think that anything can be done to increase voter turnout unless you have bribing involved. Voting should not be required because you would be left with millions of voting for someone using "eenie-meanie-minie-moe". I purpose that we have a new voting system that would require less research for the voter and more of what the voter wants. Instead of voting for who you want you vote for what you want and then out of those answers it will get which president you want. It would be less work and which is what our society is about today.

I agree with Alexa when she said that many stations post the winner of the election when the polls are still open. I think many people get the idea that their vote doesnt count so they dont go anymore.

I do not think there is anything under the power of the democracy that can get more people to vote. It would be unconstitutional to require voting by federal law. The country I feel does a lot to try to get people to vote as far as advertisement and making the process of voting easy and accessable to everyone. There really isn't any excuse for not voting at all. If someone doesn't like the two main candidates they can fill in who ever they want in the fill in box. Even themselves! I dont't think there is a universalexcuse for not voting throughout all different races and ages of Americans. I think they all have a unique excuse to themselves and the government cannot go around babysitting these people trying to get them to vote.

I disagree with what Brayden has to say about making the voting process easier. I think that this would only make Americans more naive to what is actually going on. I think that people need to get a grip and put aside their excuses and just go out and perform their civic duty of voting. How hard is it? Millions of people have a problem with immigration in this country because they say the immigrants aren't citizens. Now I have a question for these people who say this: What do you think about the third of the country who apparently could care less about what happens in this country and choose not to vote?

I think that everyone doesn't turn out to vote because most Americans don't realize the significance of an election and they just don't care what happens. People are also lazy and ignorant to the things going on around them, or they think that their vote doesn't matter. I think that people need to know what they are voting for, and understand whats going on, not just show up and cast their ballots.

I agree with Amanda from Pd. 5, this election was highly publisized, and the media was the link that connected the community to the candidates. The sad part was that the media focused on the candidates social lives the majority of the time, rather than their political views and beliefs. I think it would have been nice to hear more about their plans for America how they were going to handle controversial topics, instead of which church they were going to or how one of them is old and the other is black.

This was probably the most interesting election I have ever lived through. Obama won by a good percentage. I have no bias remarks I just I hope he can do something good for this country; like he has been talking about.

I think the voting percentage is relatively high. There are a lot of Americans that just simply don't care. I would say that percentage is around 20 percent. Regardless of how much candidates campaign and talk to the public there will always be people who don't care and I think that is true with every nation. If you think about why would you want the people who don't care to vote. There decisions wouldn't be based on logic. They would probably vote depending on the appearance of the candidate. I think the percentage is good around where it is. As long as the educated Americans vote. Hopefully they aren't part of the people who are to lazy to vote.

So I definantly don't think people should be required to vote.

And I tried to look up information about how different age groups vote. I think in candidates focus a lot of attention on younger voters. I also think there is a higher percentage of kids who just don't care or they overlook. I've talked to a lot of kids who didn't vote and they didn't really have an excuse; they just never got around to it.

64% voter turn out is not bad, but it could be better. I think that voter turn outs are low because either people don't care who becomes the president or that the candidates do not have the qualities they believe a president should have. I think that the only way for parties to increase voter turn out is to let people know the importance of getting out and vote, other than that I don't think they can do anything else because it's all about the motivation of people. Since voting isn't mandatory, people don't really mind having an incompetent president to lead their country until of course, it's too late.

I would have to agree with Marthony 100%. People of the US are lazy they don't want to go out there and vote. Also i think it is partially technical difficulties. I know this wasnt said to begin but can you just think of all the people who went to the booth and had a problem. Do you really think that they are going to come back later no there just not going to vote. 64% is not a bad amount of people so there is nothing to worry about.

I agree with Joey.. I think that a majority of the Americans who did vote were the educated who had an idea about what the cadidates stood for. I understand there will always be that group who just votes based only on age, race, gender, and factors like that. I think that is completely and utterly wrong and there should be something to prevent that but again if steps were taken to make the voting more selective you would have a lower turnout.

I think that the voter turnout was as low as it was because most just think their vote won't count. And then when a significant amount of people think that then their votes really could have made a difference. With this election being considerably more biased based on the age, race, and gender factors then the turnout depended on that. I do not think that there should be any judgement made on the candidates, unless of course it is about the issues that they support and where they stand on them.

I agree with Marthony and T.J. about how the American people are becoming more and more lazy. People don't wish to wait over an hour or more to vote. They would much rather just get it over with, which I think is hard to believe. If you have the chance to pick the person who is supremely in charge of the affairs of your country, you should feel proud to do your duty of making sure your voice is heard. In response to Kelsey, I can see how these campaigns were more publicized not for their political views, however more for the social differences.

Another issue is third party voting. We can all agree that third party voting is a waste of a vote as well. This is only because that a thrid party never gets much air time or popularity, because it will never get electoral votes. Were stuck in a two party nation when there are at least five truly stable parties. If we did away with the electoral college these parties would have a greater impact.

I agree with Braden. it should not be required to vote because the people who vote and have no idea who they want for president would sway what most people think they want in president. Then we would be stuck with a a president most people didn't want.

I think that lower for numbers come from various reasons. There are those too caught in their lives in their eyes that it is just not a priority. Some do not follow the government, and they may not think they have an influence on the government. Others do not feel they know the issues enough to be able to vote on them. I suppose it just comes down to internal motivation. People will vote if they believe they will see positive results from their choice. If someone is in the lead, and they know that person will win, they may jump on the bandwagon or not vote at all also.

I agree with Joey that people should not be required to vote. People should have the freedom of whether or not they want to vote, and them not voting shows that they do not truly care about what may happen to the country. Although their vote can help or hurt either side, voting mainly hurts them because their vote counts and their voice can make a difference. It may be better that some do not vote as well, because their decisions may not be educated if people did not look into what they were voting for.

I believe that the voter turnout happened the way it did because this election was filled with surprises and differences. Most people didn't know what to expect and the choices were limited, so they didn't really care much, or they didn't really like certain qualities of each candidate. But the rest of the americans chose to vote because they want to pick the candidate for their reasons, and most teens who turned 18 wanted to vote because it was their first time they were eligible to vote.

Over the years, the number of voters has been gradually increasing. However, still to this day, there is only a 64% outcome. I know that this is a huge step when comparing it to the past, but there are always different ways in order to have more votes.

One way to increase the votes is to evenly distribute the power. By allowing the electoral college to have so much power will not really be fair to the smaller states. Yes the electoral college may be very important; however, by evenly distributing the power between the electoral college and popular votes could potentially provide a more well-rounded result.

I also think that one of the main reasons why people do not vote is because they are either uneducated or simply do not have the time. Our lives can be very busy at times and that is completely understandable. However, I strongly believe that those who are uneducated should not vote. This does not mean that they are not given the right to vote, I just think that if someone is going to vote, they should know what the candidates’ views are before they make their decision. Nevertheless, I do not think that voting should be required of anyone.

I agree with Hans from period five. Typically, those who are uneducated or feel that their votes will not really have an impact on the overall outcome may not vote at all. Perhaps when one sees who is winning before the final count, they become discouraged and just choose not to vote. On the other hand, if they see that their candidate is winning, that could also encourage them to vote. Just like Hans was saying, it really all comes down to internal motivation.

I agree with Alisha H. Many non voters are people who are uneducated about voting and don't think their vote will count. I also believe that there are many people who have been incarcerated and other reasons as to why they can not vote. I believe that voter turnouts can be raised by having more every day life campaigns. This would target the average american to swing them to vote for one candidate or the other rather than just not voting for either. However since America is the land of the free I do not think voting should be required.

I think the main reason why voting is low is because people don't think their vote will really matter. Something that could be done to make voting turnouts better is making voting seem more important by taking away the electoral college.

i think the voter turnout was only 64% because some people just dont care or are undecided on who to vote for. a lot of people did not vote this year because they didnt like either candidate. i think there is no definate way to increase the turnout. it is up to the people to vote and people are lazy sometimes. the only way i could see more people voting would be to give them a gift for voting. i definatley do not think voting should be required. if you make people vote then we could end up with a president most people dont want but we get because poeple are just picking someone. overall i think this year was a good voter turnout. i think obama did a great job pulling in the younger generation which is why we see an increase in voters.

i agree with ryan on how to increase voting. by having chances for people to vote throughout each year would help a lot in my opinion. the voting could be for state decisions so each state may have different oppertunities for people to vote.

I agree with Alisha in that a reason why people don't vote is that they are uneducated. People who are uneducated have the tendency to vote whomever is winning instead of voting on who they think is more capable.

Kenny D
Pd. 6
Now of days some people think they dont have enough time for anything anymore, some people think their vote wont make a difference and some are just not S$$t with with their life and dont care about who running the land they live on, Whatever people say about not voting is just BS. I have to say being a senior in high school and seeing alot of kids who just turned 18 so ready to vote made this election more appealing. A main problem with running in the campain the runners only want to reach out to the groups,age,race whatever is willing the listen to them, I say take on the ones who hate you for no reason, show them what your really about, if they turn out voting for that candit then word to you, and if they still dont agree with you then atleast they know why they aren't voting for you. No cadite is perfect for the job, But its America so give the guys a break.As P Diddy would say "Vote or Die"

I also agree with Joey. There are many high school students who could potentially vote and make a difference in this country; however, a good percentage of them choose not to. I do not think that voting should be required, but it wouldn’t hurt for the voters to be educated. Overall though, I think the candidates usually try to persuade the younger class and also the independents. They try to sway their views in order to get more votes. Now it is simply a matter if more people will vote or not, especially the younger individuals.

I agree with Austin Lahr somewhat about the voting turnout. Although it was 64%, There were still a lot of people voting, especially during this election. There was a lot of people voting that usually do not vote, and that could be because of the historical significance of the election. Some wanted to be a part of that and actually make an influence.

pd 5
I agree with hans L, though 36 percent of people in america did not vote, alot of people still did vote for this election. I mean, look at this crazy election, this is probably bigger than the close race in 2000, i mean we had democratic candidates that challenged the norm of the presidency, we had obama, and hilary! of courz if you look at this historical significance, HOW CAN PEOPLE NOT VOTE!? i mean this is gonna be in the history books of america forever!

I do not think the voter turnout was low. I think it's fairy high, mostly because of this historical election. Both candidates for president represented something different, such as age and race. More people would vote if they were more educated on the election. Voting shouldn't be required, because then the people who don't really care or who are uneducated would just vote for whoever, and it wouldn't be an accurate turnout.

The voter turnout was 64% because a lot of people who normally don't vote, voted. Many people voted and did not know why they were voting for who theychose. Many voted solely based on race.

I think voting should not be required. There's not really a way to enforce that anyways. But people should be more educated on the election and get to know each nominee.

I disagree with Karina. Kind of. I dont really disagree with her, but what she said is exactly what happened. People who don't really care or who are uneducated would just vote for whoever looked the best. They did not take into account the experiences of both nominees.

i believe that the voter turnout was 64% because far too many people are apathetic these days and they expect everyone else to vote for them. basically they want to be lazy but still be able to voice their opinions, usually complaining about the current situations. however the media did an adequate job at promoting voting esp in the younger age bracket. I think that not much more could have been done to increase voter turnout. its just how it is. many times it is too inconvenient for some people to get to a voting booth. finally i believe that voting should not be required, but if youre going to complain, vote because if you didnt care enough to vote, you shouldnt care about what the turnout of an election is. it would be nice to force everyone to vote but it wouldnt be people who cared and i think many of them would just bs their votes to mess with the polls. nobody wants a bunch of idiot loser kids to vote for your future president. plus its just a whole lot longer to count the votes that are really worthless.

I agree with Trevor S. when he said there is nothing the government can do to make more people vote. I believe to make more people vote or feel obligated to vote, they would have to start moving the campaign into schools, churches, and other private institutions. I think that would definitely violate the constitution and it would only cause controversy. (btw it would just be annoying. i got tired of campaigning from how it normally is) I think all the media can do is truthfully tell event by event what is going on in each politician's agendas, and their platforms. but thats unrealistic. the majority of americans are so ignorant that they need the persuasive method of campaigning so they can automatically vote based on what they see on their favorite channel or who is cool that endorses them.

I believe that the media played aq large part in bringing about such a large turnout. The two candidates for president spent more money on ads than the total operating funds of some small governments.

Besides that fact, a lot of people want anybody other than BUsh, the economy is poor, and people are afraid.

I also agree with Brianna B. in what she says about advertising to the people through what they watch the most. TV and entertainment should have more information on voting rather than just the channels that are considered news. The people need to be spoken to in their own enviornment and through what they watch everyday. Not saying that this should be manditory, however I think it would help a lot with voter turnout.

One of the problems is that people need to have to initiative to look some of this up on their own. They need to research the candidates, look at their beliefs and values, and then makes a decision. Deciding who to vote for upon who comes across better on the tv is not always the best idea.

Kayla Kraus
pd. 1

The voter turnout was respectively higher for this election than previous ones for one because the candidates spent a lot of time and money on getting the word out and advertising. The media for this election was vast. I also believe it was higher for this election because one of the candidates was black, for the first time. This fact made people more interested, made them more aware, and made them want to be a part of this unique election.

As for what can be done to increase the voter turnout, I agree with many of the previous postings. If the people would realize that their vote does matter, I think more people would vote, because if the candidate you chose lost, well (not to be too blunt but) someone had to lose, there can only be one President. If everyone thought their vote didn’t count, where would we be… I also think a great way to change is through the candidates themselves. Having them promote the idea of voting and really making people think about the issues and where they stand, instead of just the candidates bagging on each other in their ads would help.

Voting should absolutely not be required. If voting were required the integrity of the vote would be lost. People would just go and vote for who-ever because they had to. They wouldn’t do the research and put the effort into it to make it worthwhile. The people who go to the poles to vote should be the people who want to exercise their right to vote, to make their voice heard.

Lastly, I found it really interesting to look at the perspective percentages for the demographics. It is interesting to see what groups went where and to speculate as to why, if there are any obvious reasons. The demographics I found where from the NY Times and they have an option where you can change to bar size of the demographics in the chart so they are “according to share of electorate”. The change was really interesting. Such as how much weight the women’s vote had or how small some of them got, such as the jewish category.

Kayla Kraus
pd. 1

What Brianna Bell says I concure with. One of the problems with voting percentages is apathy. People today want their benefits and they want luxury, but so many of them aren't willing to work for it, to take it into their own hands and take ownership of it. This notion, unfortunatley, goes for voting too.

One of the moire interesting items is that this election we had one of the highest voter turnouts among young people ever. And 75% voted Obama.

"Obama won the age group of 18- to 29-year-olds, in addition to the 30–44 and 45–59 brackets."

I think the reason for this is best summed up by this quote, "Many youth were dissatisfied with the current administration, she said, and caught onto the idea of change. In addition, young people gravitated toward common issues, such as the economy and climate change, that made it easy to come together."

http://www.thetartan.org/2008/11/10/news/electionsf

I believe that voter turnout is so low because there are many people that just don't care, some that can't get up to vote, some that don't belive their vote would matter, and some just forget or don't want to wait in line. I don't think that there is really anything that can be done about most of the people who don't vote, it's just the way it is.

I don't think that it would be a good idea to make voting mandatory because it would make many people that don't care very upset. On top of that, I don't see how it could be required, there is literally no way to keep track of every single american and make them leave their homes to cast a vote that they don't care about either way.

This year the amount of people that voted was much higher than in previous elections. Even though it was still very low at 64 percent. The 18-24 year old age group went to the voting booths much more than in previous years. All different races went out and voted this year as well compared to most other elections.

I agree with Jason Z. about how it is absurd and very unrealistic to require voting. Who would make sure of that, and how? It just seems impossible to have that happen.

I agree with Alexa B. I think that educating people on the issues would be better than just telling people to vote because they can. TV stations should still publicize voting, but also provide information on the issues.

- The voter turn out was probably 64% for many reasons, one reason being even though a lot of the population enjoys being involved in the politics of their president, a lot probably don't care enough to take the time to sign up. A lot of people don't do things simply because they don't want to take the time out of their day to do it, and that could be a great factor in this. There's also the possibility that some people didn't sign up because they thought their vote didn't matter. Then there's those who don't participate because the media turns them off- they think they're being lied to. --- There's many strange reasons why people don't want to or don't end up voting in an election.
- To increase voter turnout the media could post more on how a vote matters towards your personal opinion, rather than whatever they are promoting. Quite often media simply presses towards one main promotion, and that could turn a person off on whether they want to vote or not.
- To increase turn out the parties could promote more I suppose, though they already promote a lot already.. What they could do is thoroughly explain certain topics that they are promoting that people often don't see are there or get confused about. If people know that important topics are present and know that they fully understand them then they'll know that they can have a strong personal opinion on the subject- likely to strengthen their chances of voting. They could also promote specifically towards age groups, like the young teen voters. If the young teen voters don't want to vote then we're losing a great percentage of our voters for the present and possibly the future, so that's a very important factor.
- Voting should NOT be required. Unfortunately [And please don't take this the wrong way, but..] there are a lot of people in America who really don't know what is going on and who is who in these kinds of election situations. If we make it required to vote we're going to get a lot of uneducated, ignorantly, randomly chosen, uncared or un-pondered decisions made. With this result the results of the votes would easily be destroyed. It is learned that people do better when what they want is more decided by them rather than forced upon them. This situation would relate.

The overall opinion seems to be sided on the fact that people shouldhsve the right to choose to vote. To add to this argument I would like to point out that it would be against our rights to make everyone in America vote. Americans have the right to privacy and if they make the choice not to vote in the election then that is their choice. I like my right to privacy even though that right is violated all the time to protect "National Security."

The final thing I wanted to talk about is the affect of media on young voters. The media being bias to either side of a campaign will try to get young people to vote but (here is the catch) as long as they vote for their political side. Do you think P. Diddy's Vote or Die effort was to get young poeple to vote or an effort to push Bush out of Presidency. Idk it is just speculation on my part but I believe that is how the media works.

I think the media should turn their efforts to a greater purpose. Especially the media that reaches younger viewers like MTV and comedy central. They should make an effort to inform their viewers rather than simply encourage them to vote. The issues should be the major topics but from this election that may have been the case for some but a majority it probably wasn't. I like views from both sides of the political spectrum and I make an effort to find out the issues that effect me. But I didn't even vote in the past election and I am sure young viewers aren't as educated as they could be. Will they go out of their way to find the issues ; probably not. I think a lot are content with the prestige of voting. Or the overall ritual of voting. This is a recurring problem but I sincerely beleive that if the media for younger viewers took a little time to inform "younger people" would become more educated when they vote instead of coming into a booth without a clue. Thats all.

I completely agree with Joey about the young voters. Like my sister had no idea what to vote for the propositions so she had me vote the propositions for her because she knew I was properly formed. Young people that vote and aren't properly informed are screwing things up. They listen to what their friends say or what their parents say. It's annoying when people just write down whatever their parents say and use it as their opinion. Form your own opinions! You have the internet or Fox news at your disposal, they should be used!

MYPOST---> I believe people don't research the the issuses enough which leaves them feeling as though they are not informed enough to vote. Citizens of the United States care more about looks and clothes of candidates than the actual issues. So even those who vote tend to vote for the wrong reasons. People in today's society tend to think more about themselves rather than the future of our country which means they do not use the opportunity to vote. I believe that if there were more polling places and more time for people to vote, turnout would improve drastically.
1--> I agree wtih Ariel L when she says that it's annoying when people just write doen whatever their parents say and use it as their opinion.
2--> I also agree with Jason when he says that most people don't believe their vote will count. A lot of people don't like the electoral college and think popular vote is a lot better way to go.