Why don’t Americans vote? We’re “too busy.”

[brooklynite]

Washington Post:

Midterm elections are always lower-turnout affairs, but 2014 was exceptional: A meager 36 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, 5 points lower than in 2010 and the worst turnout rate since 1942, according to the U.S. Elections Project. So, why did so few Americans vote last year? The Census Bureau asked just that to people who chose not to cast ballots.

Being "too busy" tops the list of (excuses) reasons, followed by general lack of interest, illness, being out of town, simply forgetting, and disliking the candidates or the issues. Few people blamed registration issues, inconvenience, transportation issues or bad weather.

While Americans reasons for not voting seem reasonable enough, they don't really explain exactly what made 2014 unique. The same Census survey in 2010 found non-voters gave almost the exact same reasons for casting ballots. In non-voters' minds at least, the reasons for not casting ballots were hardly exceptional despite the historically low turnout.

What is striking is that peoples' reasons for not turning out in 2014 are some of the same challenges governments and political campaigns are working to help voters overcome. A steady rise in the availability of early, absentee or mail voting would seem to help the nearly half of non-voters who cited reasons like being busy, out of town or simply forgetting.

[msongs]

1. make election day a holiday with some sort of financial incentive nt

[Scootaloo]

2. Some people have jobs where they'll get fired if they spend a Tuesday at the polls, Brooklynite

Next time you're hosting a congressperson at your five-bedroom home, maybe ask them what they think about that problem.

[brooklynite]

3. I haven't missed an election since I turned 18.

when I was a humble student, and afterwards, when I was a Jr. Government clerk.

Add to which, here in NY, polls open at the god-awful hour of 6 AM and stay open till 9 PM.

I think a lot of people choose not to vote, and make excuses for it later.

[Scootaloo]

5. Still. bring us word from your dining companions on it, will you?

[brooklynite]

12. Good thing my Presidential Candidate wants a national 20 days of early voting, huh?

[Scootaloo]

16. It's a good idea

I dunno why you felt the need to sneer at people who literally can't pull up the time to vote, when even your presidential candiddate seems to recognize the problem.

[Igel]

4. We've made it easier and easier.

Voting by mail--you log in to a website or make a call, get a ballot in the mail, and return it. Want to vote at 3 a.m. Sunday morning? Go for it. Tack on a stamp and throw it in outgoing mail at work. l

There's early voting, often on weekends and evenings--as well as during the day. Can't make it Tusday at 1 pm, try Monday at 7 pm, Thursday at 8 pm, Saturday at 10 a.m. Unless you work 7 16-hour days for the two weeks before election day, they've probably got a time for you.

Between that and motor-voter and other ways of registering, it's not hard.

The problem is that voter turnout has *dropped* since we started making it easier and easier. Yet every time there's something to make it trivially harder, for any reason, we say that it'll make it too hard to vote. Nobody suggested going back to the horribly difficult days when we had higher voter turnout, though. And nobody can suggest in terms of precincts and where/how we vote to explain why it used to be harder and became easier but turnout has fallen.

It all boils down to voter apathy.

[LonePirate]

8. There is more than voter apathy going on here.

Sure, that is a huge part of the problem. However, Republicans are not going to allow any expansions or easing the means by which people vote. Voting online or by mail are wonderful suggestions but the Rs will never allow it because their chance of winning decreases as the number of voters increases.

[cwydro]

15. No one has to spend all day there.

The polls open early and close late in most places. Furthermore, more and more places allow advance voting.

I've managed to vote in every election even when I was working two jobs.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

6. I can't help but wonder how much of that is people simply too embarrassed

to admit the truth, even to an anonymous pollster.

[Phentex]

14. I agree. I think apathy is the biggest reason...

people just don't care or they think their vote won't matter so why bother. But I doubt they would admit that to the pollster.

[LonePirate]

7. Plus there is that party in control of over half the states which does not want more voters

Let's not kid ourselves. Republicans are not going to make voting easier anywhere. Citizen initiatives and changes in Democrat led states are our best hopes.

[CTyankee]

10. but we can do something. We can offer rides to people so they can get to the polls.

If we work with our local Dem party we can find many ways to help. I find it very useful to do that. We are well organized here in CT.

[maxsolomon]

9. 100% mail-in ballots in WA State

You get about 3 weeks to get your act together. I love it. No worrying about lines at the polls or making it there before they close.

[0rganism]

13. likewise in OR

over 70% turnout in the last election cycle iirc
while much of the rest of the country was digging itself a nice conservative grave in 2014, OR legalized recreational MJ, elected a Democratic governor, and made its legislature even more Democratic than before.
the republican elites HATE HATE HATE vote by mail, but they haven't come up with a good dog whistle to blow that will reverse it.

making people leave work to stand in line all day on a Tuesday is their bread and butter. it's the easiest form of voter suppression there is, and lucky them it's already encoded in the constitution.

in 2016, Democratic activists should try to get vbm onto the ballot in every state. in a presidential year, that might even give us the foothold we need for flipping Texas in the next election.

[Snobblevitch]

11. If someone is too apathetic to vote,

then they are likely to be ignorant of the issues. It might be a good thing they are not voting.

[CK_John]

17. The voter has no skin in the game, back in the day the ward boss let the voter know

it was in their interest to vote, or maybe just a turkey at Thanksgiving, or maybe a notice when a civil service job opened up.