We're #55. The U.S.A.'s Voter Turnout Problem
I was just reading something really interesting: Facebook users in Washington state will have something else to brag about to their online friends: that they registered to vote on Facebook. The secretary of state’s office said Tuesday it will have an application on its Facebook page that allows residents to register to vote and then […]
I was just reading something really interesting:
Facebook users in Washington state will have something else to brag about to their online friends: that they registered to vote on Facebook.
The secretary of state’s office said Tuesday it will have an application on its Facebook page that allows residents to register to vote and then “like” the application and recommend it to their friends. It’s expected to launch as early as next week.
As soon as I saw that I thought “wow, what an idea!” What Washington is doing is trying to get their citizens more involved in our democracy. They want to make it easier for people to take the necessary steps to engage in their constitutional right to vote.
Voter turnout in the United States averages 67% in a Presidential year. Non-presidential years, it drops below 50%. Our nation, once considered the birthplace of democracy, has dropped to number 55 in voter participation. That is a joke, but one the GOP loves.
Amazing!
Since Republicans had their wave in 2010, a concentrated effort by the right has commenced to make it harder for people to vote. The Republicans know an amazing fact; this country is mostly Democratic. They know that when Democrats get energized and get out to vote that the GOP will lose. So instead of trying to conform more to the views of the people, the GOP has taken to actions to silence the people.
That’s a problem.
We uses to hear George Bush and the GOP talk about “spreading democracy” in the Middle East, yet as soon as a middle eastern country holds an election and elects someone we might not like, then they complain about that democracy. They don’t like democracy, just the idea of it. To the Republicans democracy is only good if the person they want gets elected. If it’s someone else, then democracy sucks!
Let’s remember what America was founded on; a government by the people, for the people. We need to remind the GOP of that as they try to silence the voice of the people. If they want to continue to disenfranchise voters, then they can no longer consider themselves Americans.
