Cordova, Voting... Ain't Nobody Got Time For That

As many of you may know, the entire population of citizens eligible and registered to vote do not vote. Shocking, right? Well, now we must ask why. For most the answer is simple, they're lazy and simply do not care, but for others it's a bit more of a complicated situation. The way the election for the president works, often discourages many Americans to get up and take initiative to vote. Reasons for this include that they do not believe that their vote counts, because they perhaps live in a state opposed to how they would vote, or in a state in which their vote counts for very little, compared to a small state. Other reasons might include that they do not have enough time, are not informed, people don't like either candidate or again just don't care.

Living in a state with limited influence to who the President will be also is discouraging to voters in which they believe that their little state could not swing the overall votes in any way, so they do not bother to vote. Within the states as well, if the potential voter does not truly believe that their vote could make a difference, they do not vote. For example if they lived in South Carolina and were a Democrat, if they believed that no matter if they voted or not the result would remain the same, voting Republican, they also possibly would not vote. Another main issue, that is contributing to the high rates of decreasing voter turnout is the lack of interest on the voter part to any candidate running. This is unfortunate, because most of the time it is the hardest to encourage if the eligible voter has no opinion on the issue at hand.

Americans not voting is a problem because everyone has an opinion. Eventually a group of people who may or may not have voted will complain about something and will want some change or policy. This is not an accurate way of going about getting your way however, especially when you have not voted. Unfortunately, the truth is that people are often selfish and care about themselves foremost. The selfish nature of people causes them to want their own way, most of the time with little or no concern for others. Don't get mad, it's true. This can be avoided however, in some cases, instead of making a group to complain about a certain policy, vote for the person who agrees with the policies or changes you had in mind.  This is truth is clearly an issue however, because they cannot fairly account for your opinion when you chose to not partake in the voting process of who will ultimately be in charge of our country and how you could potentially go about your everyday life.

Since the way of the Electoral College cannot be changed I would reform this voting process in order to encourage more eligible and registered voters to vote. There are many ways to go about this process one being an easy, but unsuspecting way is through media. Not just any media though, through celebrities. The media often focuses on just the main candidates during election time and a lot less on other people or Hollywood characters that usually hog the camera during the rest of the year. We use the celebrities to let the eligible voters know that aren't motivated at all, to be motivated. By putting significance on celebrities voting and the importance it plays in their lives could inspire and encourage a lot of people, whether middle aged, old or young. Allowing America to see that the celebrities vote and care about voting too will not only convict and make the American people consider voting, it will also give the celebrities more popularity. Also they will be more liked because of the connection the reader or viewer will have, knowing that they participate in everyday activities and civic duties. Putting more emphasis on the more popular and famous people voting will also encourage the ones who wouldn't have voted before, not only the idea to vote, but to become informed of the candidates running for office.

Another way to increase voter turnout is by making the candidates more relational. People are going to vote for people who they feel a connection with, or someone with whom they share a common interest. Similar to the celebrity idea, the idea of making the President more "average," relating to everyday people will make him more popular and likable to the American public, being able to see that they're just like him. For example  in the 2008 election there was the most diverse group of voters that took part in the voting process than ever before, perhaps because of the connection or similarities they shared. Therefore, making the President seem more like a regular guy and emphasizing his regular "everyday American" activities during the time of his campaign, may in fact increase the voter turnout. 

                                               

sources: http://www.cagle.com/2012/05/voting-for-candidates/
http://cartoonblog.nbcnews.com/_nv/more/section/archive?year=2010&month=11&ct=a&pc=25&sp=25
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1209/racial-ethnic-voters-presidential-election