Member-only story
Why Don’t We Vote?
Why does the US have one of the lowest voter turnouts?
In 2008, when 62% of eligible voters cast ballots for the president of the United States it was a 40-year high for US voter turnout. Over those years an average of just 57% of eligible voters chose our president. U.S. voter turnout in 2016 ranked 26th of 32 developed nations surveyed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
What is the story with the other 38–43% of eligible voters…
Over the years I’ve heard things like:
- “It’s not on my radar.”
- “My vote makes no difference. It’s hopeless.”
- “I don’t like either of the candidates.”
- “It’s not convenient.”
But in the past five years, there’s been a change in tone…
“I’m not eligible to vote, I don’t have ID, I’m not registered, I can’t get away from work, I can’t get to the polls, I don’t know how to get a ballot by mail, there aren’t any drop boxes near me, etc.” The Global Citizen movement calls these complaints “barriers to voting.” Those who champion the right to vote have pointed to state and local reductions in voting locations, fewer days and shorter hours to vote, and a scarcity of ballot boxes as the cause of such complaints.
