With the next presidential election rapidly approaching, along with the turmoil that underscores our current political climate, Americans are asking some pretty tough questions about the election process. Our country is divided by right and left, red and blue, with little thought to alternative political solutions. Voters of all ages are faced with the quandary of voting their conscience or the infamous lesser of two evils, asking themselves would a vote for a third party be a vote wasted? Americans also question the significance of their vote in the grand scheme of things, particularly when hot topics like voter fraud and the validity of the electoral college make it seem impossible for any election to be fair and balanced. As American citizens, …show more content…
Younger voters in particular may not be aware that everyone in the United States does not always have the right to vote. The nineteenth amendment that makes it illegal to discriminate against any voter because of sex was not passed until 1920, and that was 42 years after its introduction to Congress (Rock The Vote). While this amendment allowed white women to vote, minority women would not be protected until The Voting Right Act was passed in 1965. Essentially, women and minority voters were still facing voter discrimination less than sixty years ago. The Suffragettes marched and campaigned for women and minority rights as far back as 1878 and Rock the Vote states that “the right to vote — required a lengthy and arduous struggle that took nearly a century of conferences, protests, hunger strikes, speeches, court cases, lobbying, organizing, and marches” to achieve this monumental goal. Citizens should honor the memories of those who sacrificed by turning up at the polls, something that was not so easy to do just a few years …show more content…
Far left and far right extremists make it difficult for normal everyday citizens to associate themselves with one particular party. Likewise, some voters will turn up at every poll voting straight party tickets with little to no consideration of the candidate and their values. Social media and television adds bombard us with smear campaigns, and many people argue daily over social justice issues and political stance. This process can be tiresome, and many would-be voters are restrained from participating because sifting through all of the facts can be overwhelming. Regardless, this is the system that we have and the only way to even the playing field is to get involved and make every voice heard. During our last presidential election, only sixty six percent (or two thirds of registered voters) actually showed up at the polls. This figure was the highest voting turnout in several decades. Out of the 62.6 percent of voters that showed up last presidential election, only 23 percent fell in the age 18-29 category. This means that forty-four percent of eligible citizens failed to participate. Many factors keep voters home, lack of accessibility to real information about the candidates, misinformation, isolation, and just general disheartenment in our country's current
Recently, only 60% of registered voters have actually voted in presidential elections. This brings up the question: should Americans be required to vote? This question receives very mixed answers. Many Americans believe that they should have the choice and the freedom to vote or not; many Americans also believe that mandatory, or required, voting is simply a civic duty. Currently, American citizens are not required to vote. Citizens seem to like this system, but because voting is not mandatory, the amount of citizens that vote in elections is rather low. Americans should not be required to vote because it forces people to vote that are uninterested, makes citizens unhappy, and damages other people’s votes.
John Adams once said "You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." For many generations, our ancestors have fought for the right to vote. It started with the Civil Rights Act in 1964 which made it mandatory that white schools integrate black children into their institutions. The outcome of the 1964 election was a landslide, favoring the democrats, which broached the issue of civil rights legislation. In 1964 “only 7% of eligible black citizens in Mississippi were registered; in Alabama the figure was 20% (Kernell, et. al 2014, 162). The low voter turnout rate was because people of color were required to take a literacy test. This all changed when President Johnson
"Miller light and bud light…either way you end up with a mighty weak beer!" This is how Jim Hightower (a Texan populist speaker) described the choices that the U.S. electorate had in the 2000 elections. This insinuates that there is a clear lack of distinction between the parties. Along with numerous others, this is one of the reasons why the turnout is so low in the U.S. elections. In trying to explain the low figures at the U.S. elections, analysts have called American voters apathetic to indifferent to downright lazy. I disagree that the 50% (in recent elections) of voters that fail to turnout to vote are lazy and that they have just reason not too. I will also show that the problem lies within the system itself in that the institutional arrangements, electoral and governmental, do not create an environment that is conducive to mass participation. I will address these main issues and several others that have an effect on voter participation. In doing so I will compare America to other established democracies.
The United States of America is often touted as the guiding beacon of democracy for the entirety of the modern world. In spite of this tremendous responsibility the political system of the United States retains some aspects which upon examination appear to be significantly undemocratic. Perhaps the most perplexing and oft misunderstood of these establishments is the process of electing the president and the institution known as the Electoral College. The puzzle of the Electoral College presents the American people with a unique conundrum as the mark of any true democracy is the citizens’ ability to elect their own ruling officials. Unfortunately, the Electoral College system dilutes this essential capacity by introducing an election by
The Chartist movement (a working class political movement) in 1840 believed “People had no one else but themselves to blame for the actions of their politicians” (Nash). What Mr. Nash and the chartist movement believe couldn’t be more on the spot. This country has gotten to the point where people find it hard to walk down their street to the elementary school where the voting polls are, and take a few minutes to cast a vote. A vote that millions of people around the world wish they were able to have them selves. With all the political suffrage that goes on through the world and people forced to love a leader, these no-shows should be thankful to live in a democracy. A place where elections aren’t rigged and the people are truly heard. This is why the topic of voting turnout needs to be raised. Also it’s very annoying to hear people complaining about our President when they did not even vote. It’s a very bad habit to not vote, and it needs to change with the younger citizens of this country. Helping younger people see the importance of voting needs to start with technological and educational ideas while expanding all the way to social event ideas. Only then will America’s ability to find answers to voting turnout increase.
The United States is a privileged country with freedoms and opportunities many countries strive to achieve. People come into the United States in hopes to obtain these rights and make a better life for themselves; they strive to achieve “The American Dream.” Citizens are given the chance to vote, speak their mind, and live according to their desires without prejudice. However, the same government that promises hope has flaws that frustrate the American people; the Electoral College is one topic of debate. Many feel this system is a safe way to regulate who leads the country, while others feel that issues should be left to popular vote.
The author argues that without the use of an Electoral College that every vote by an American citizen would still create a big outcome in the election for a candidate. Instead of telling electors who citizens wished to cast their vote for, citizens would be able to really vote for the candidate in which they feel will be most effective for the country. The author believes that the Electoral College has soiled our elections and that we should make a better way in which we can make the elections more efficient and equal for each and every citizen in
In 1919, there was a time when all the men got the right to vote, which wasn’t fair to the women. They wanted to do something about it but they couldn’t, it was all about the men. Later in that year, there was a women, two actually, named Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Elizabeth worked with Lucretia to do something about the whole voting situation and they were very successful. The law, Women’s Right to Vote, was passed by congress on June 4th, 1919, and was ratified on August 18th, 1920. Here’s my experience. It was January 12th 1919, the day was sunny with some clouds in the sky and you can smell the scent of fresh roses as you walked down the sidewalk. I closed my eyes as the summer breeze blew through the window letting the air hit my face and suddenly opened them when I heard
I believe that the single most important societal problem currently is voting right restrictions. November is quickly coming upon us, so does the right to cast our votes for whoever we believe to be the best candidate for the oval office. However, new voting right restrictions will make the voting process harder for certain groups. These laws will affect of upwards to millions of potential voters this coming election. We all have the right to vote. The government also has the right for certain groups to make that ballet harder to cast. The reason that voting right restriction is so important is because it stops numerous people from voting, a specific group of people were targeted, and the reason the law was made is wrong.
... who are eligible of voting should get out there and vote. We fought to expand suffrage, and now we must show the government we are capable of voting.
Women were not allowed to vote in the nineteenth century. This was mainly due to opposing views sweeping America at that time, which were pushed forward by two well known political arguments-a report from the Senate's Committee on Priviledges and Elections and an address by Isabella Beecher Hooker. In 1878, the Senate Committee wrote a response to a proposed constitutional amendment that would give women the right to vote, stating the main reasons why women shouldn't be given the ability. Some of these reasons announced that female voters had no experience in political affairs, while being quite generally dependent upon the other sex and incapable of performing military duty. Without the power to enforce the laws they could create, what good
In order to completely understand how far society has come and the amount of work that still must be done, in regards to being able to exercise our voting rights, we must first understand some of the voting barriers that minorities had to face in the past. It was not until 1870 that the 15th amendment was passed, declaring it unconstitutional for an individual to be denied the right to vote based on their color, race or previous condition of servitude. However, the 15th amendment only applied to male individuals, it did not guarantee the right for women to vote. Instead female voters had to wait an additional fifty years until they were granted the privilege to vote. In 1920, the 19th amendment was finally passed, stating that regardless of gender every American citizen had the right to vote.
Emily Pollack Mrs. Schappler APUSH E 14 March 2024 Change in Citizenship Racism and slavery were prominent during the early centuries of the United States, but have since been illegalized African Americans were used as slaves and Native Americans were forced off their land. Women of all races were viewed as less than. As abolitionist laws were becoming present, so were voting rights. The considerations for what makes a person a citizen of the United States are drastically changing. The definition of US citizenship changed through voting rights and territory annexation to a large extent during 1865 and 1920.
The Voting Rights Act, signed into law on August 6, 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson, protects the freedoms given by the fifteenth amendment. While the fifteenth amendment allowed all men of color to vote, some states, especially southern ones, loopholed that law. Many people of color were unfairly denied the right to vote through literacy tests and poll taxes. Almost 95 years after the amendment, many people were protesting because their freedoms still weren’t being recognized. A push for change was completely necessary, and while America may not be completely equal yet and the act not be being used to its full potential, the Voting Rights Act was a valuable contribution to equality that helped get this country where it is today.
In life there are many concepts that are argued to either be beneficial or negative to a specific case, dress codes are one of them. Lots of places from high schools, to restaurants and workplaces to even the military have to follow a specific dress code. Some might be so strongly with the idea of setting specific dress codes, and others not so much. Having a dress code in workplaces sets a specific image, develops equality, and fosters team spirit. When one set foot in a workplace where all the employees are in dress code, one gets the feeling of a specific image being set.