Essay On Voter Turnout

Voter turnout has two different ways that it can be measured, which are: the percentage of registered voters voting or the percentage of the voting-age population voting. The most commonly used is the voting-age population since it streamlines variation in different state voting requirements and elections that have an effect on voter turnout. Historically, the participation of voters had been lower than the national average in Texas. Among the factors that can influence voter turnout are: the time of election, how important the election is perceived, even the day of the week can affect voter turnout.

Specifically to Texas, some major factors that affect voter turnout are traditional and individual actors have a major impact on elections. The traditional culture is more of a conservative type that embraces the old roots of Texas and does not really place an emphasis on voting. Also the history of
Texas’ restricted ballot plays a large role in how the importance of voting developed in our state. You have the poll tax which removed the poor from the equation, mostly blacks which continued a cycle of voting “delinquency” that we see today. Yearly voter registration is also a “turn off” of voting, I am guilty of this since I personally wait until the last minute to register and doing so every year deters me from keeping up with it. Property requirements, women being barred from voting, and the White Primary are other important factors that continues to influence voter turnout to this very day.

The individual responsibility of registering to vote, in the U.S., is a major factor that influences voter turnout.
Considering that the percentage of registered voters is usually a fraction of the eligible voting population, it’s easy to deduce the factors that are influencing voter turnout by simply looking at the statistical information from the groups that do tend to vote and those that don’t. In 2012 only around 65-71% of the voting-age population was even registered, compared to around 96% for Sweden and 93% in the United Kingdom. Some countries, like Japan, have actually seen a pretty large decrease in voter turnout in the past couple of decades from 75-52% from 1990 to this year. This is only a trend usually seen in OECD countries, which most are seeing a downward drift further into the future. Pretty much compulsive voting, influenced by the major issues of the terms are what will drive voter turnout to either go up or down. It’s similar for some other countries as well; the percentages will fluctuate so I don’t think there is a major difference in voter
turnout.

I believe that voter turnout can be increased in our own state by providing more convenient methods of voter registration, for example a streamlined online process of voter registration could work, as long as it is regulated properly and has a minimum chance of voter fraud. More media in the faces of Texans could drive a subliminal message to the population to get out and register to vote. Most importantly, if we had a state-wide program for getting more college kids to get out and vote, that could end up having a massive impact on the current and future percentages of voter turnout.