Why Americans don't vote - and what can be done about it

November 1, 2008

This op-ed appeared Nov. 1 in The Raleigh News & Observer.

By: Leonard Beeghley
Leonard Beeghley is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Florida.

Americans go to the polls next week to select our next president. Interest is high in a contest featuring the first major party black presidential candidate, the worst financial crisis since the great depression, and the country bogged down in two far off wars.

Hence, turnout is likely to be high — at least by American standards.

In the last eleven presidential elections (1964-2004), turnout averaged 55%. This election may exceed the average and perhaps hit 60% or more.

This threshold, however, isn’t really very high — in fact, it’s abysmally low.

For some perspective, turnout in last summer’s French presidential elections was 85%. In Sweden in 2006 it was 82%. In Germany in 2005 it was 78%.

This disparity has important implications. In the U.S., the necessary plurality to select the president and other officials is typically only 28% of the electorate (just over half of 55%). Turnout in off-year elections is much lower, which means a minority of citizens selects many Senators, Governors, and other officials.

Low turnouts are why candidates “appeal to the base.” They determine not only the winners but the policies that follow. As the political scientist, V.O. Key explained more than half a century ago: The blunt truth is that politicians “are under no compulsion to pay heed to … citizens who do not vote.”

By contrast, victors in France, Sweden, and Germany must appeal to a wider range of interests and seek to represent all segments of society precisely because turnouts are high.

Although it is common to lament Americans’ lack of motivation, electoral turnouts are actually low for a more insidious reason: We make it hard to vote.

For example, next Tuesday is a work day for most people. The Tuesday after the first Monday in November was established as Election Day in 1848. It provided a convenient time for farmers to travel over dirt roads. A trip on Monday also did not disrupt the Sabbath. And farmers could balance the preceding month’s books on the first.

Today, however, many people are waylaid by the need to take kids to school, get to work, and other obligations. Although these difficulties are reduced by early voting, only thirty-two states now permit it. A better solution would be to hold elections on Sunday or make Election Day a national holiday. The latter strategy is used in France, Sweden and Germany.

Despite recent increases, our registration process also inhibits voting. In most states, registration has been closed for some time. This reduces turnout because people often don’t get involved until the last minute. As the French observer Alexis de Tocqueville noted more than a century and a half ago: “As the election draws near, intrigues grow more active and agitation is more lively and wider spread.”

Additionally, one-fourth of Americans moves every four years. As a result, at least some of those who live in the 43 states requiring individuals to register in advance will not be able to vote next week.

Although the National Voter Registration Act (the Motor Voter Law, passed in 1993), appears to make registration easier, problems of implementation have been widespread. Moreover, NVRA does not get at the fundamental problem of closed registration. Studies show that the registration requirement reduces turnout by 10% to 13%.

In France, Germany, Sweden, and other nations with high turnouts, registration is not just easier. The government is required to make sure all eligible citizens are registered.

Gerrymandering also reduces turnout. In 1812, Gov. Eldridge Gerry of Massachusetts packed his opponents’ supporters into a few districts in order to assure his party’s dominance in the state legislature. One district vaguely resembled a salamander and the term “gerrymander” was born. Not only did the term stick, but the practice of elected officials determining electoral boundaries continues today.

As a result, incumbents choose who gets to vote for them, thus increasing their odds of reelection. When people know their vote for state and congressional representatives won’t count, some of them don’t show up. As long-time Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neal, famously declared: “All politics is local.” He meant that people are motivated to vote by the issues affecting them directly.

Other nations with winner-take-all systems, like ours, limit gerrymandering by using non-partisan commissions to set electoral boundaries. As a result, elections are more competitive, candidates (including incumbents) must appeal to a broader range of interests, and turnout increases.

In a democracy, elections function to prevent abuse of power as the citizens hold representatives accountable. But for a democracy to be authentic, the people must be able to express their wishes. Low turnouts mean we have the façade of freedom — elections, parties, legislatures, congress — but not the reality.