NEW YORK CITY (U-WIRE) — Regardless of who wins next year’s presidential election, the majority of Americans eligible to vote will not vote for the winning candidate.
Given the intensity of public discourse and the enormous impact the executive branch, low levels of involvement cannot be said to stem from apathy or lack of an incentive.
Yet every election cycle, Americans fail to turn up at the polls, allowing for increased centralization of political power among incumbents and the interests that support them.
An electoral process in which so many do not participate is a weakened form of democracy. While voting is accessible to almost all, in reality higher-income Americans are better represented than our poorer countrymen and women at the polls.
According to exit polls taken by CNN after the 2008 elections, people making over $150,000 a year represented 8.3 percent of the country’s population but 12 percent of the voting population.
By contrast, those making under $15,000 a year made up 13 percent of the population but merely 6 percent of voters.
This disparity has logistical causes. Though poorer Americans have as much at stake (in the form of federal assistance), they are less likely to vote because of challenges such as taking time off from work and finding affordable transportation on Election Day.
While some would like to increase voter turnout by implementing a system of compulsory suffrage, similar to the one currently in place in Australia, I believe that practice infringes on Americans’ rights to express their disapproval of the political process through non-participation.
Instead, an effective way to increase civic participation (an integral aspect of any government calling itself a democracy) would simply be to make Election Day a national holiday.
Making Election Day a national holiday would underscore the importance our society attributes to voting, reminding all that the purpose of the day is to focus on choosing who should represent their values in government.
In addition, we need universal Election Day registration to enable more citizens to exercise their voting rights.
If the addition of another holiday to the federal calendar worries some about another loss of productivity, Election Day could be moved to the second Tuesday of November and be combined with Veterans Day. This day might then emphasize the importance of civic involvement while honoring those who have fought to protect our right to it.
Though the wealthy will always exercise undue influence in our electoral process through unlimited campaign donations now equated with “First Amendment free speech,” making Election Day a national holiday would increase popular participation.
As the results of NYU’s student elections come in and Republicans begin to announce their presidential bids, let’s think of how we can strengthen grassroots democracy. This reform would help Americans realize the egalitarian principles codified in our founding documents.
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