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Once you make the connection between the representatives and the votes more personal you will increase the likelihood of voting. As a voter you are not voting f
by danieltillett 11y ago
Once you make the connection between the representatives and the votes more personal you will increase the likelihood of voting. As a voter you are not voting for someone you don't know, but for "good old joe" who you speak to every couple of months.
The idea is to not solve every problem with democracy, but to remove the corrupting influence of needing to raise money from vested interests to spend on advertising so you can get elected. This is the major problem.
- specialist 11y agoThe number one driver for voting participation is competitive races. Hence the need for redistricting which maximizes competitiveness. Unlike every other modern democracy, the US has opt-in voting. To the best of my knowledge, universal voting registration does not increase participation. But it does prevent disenfranchisement. Only compulsory voting would (otherwise) increase participation. Some of our jurisdictions have switched to all postal balloting. This permits ballot chasing. In general, these campaigns no longer attempt to persuade. (Clinton vs Sanders is a notable exception, because most contests are face to face.) They spend most of the money on GOTV (get out the vote), turning out your base (supporters). Which has led to alienating voters. No one likes to be contacted 30 times per election (4 times a year) to be reminded to mail their ballot. Postal balloting has also harmed the culture of voting. This intangible is very hard to measure. But some studies show that "I voted" style markers, visible to your friends and family, boost voter participation.
- danieltillett 11y agoI agree with you that postal voting is very harmful practice to democracy. The solution to people not having time to get off work to vote is not postal voting, but to move the date to a weekend or holiday.