[Company name]

How to
Increase
Voter
Turnout in
Mayoral
Elections
[Document subtitle]

Tierra Alexander

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Voter turnout in local elections are inexcusably low. U.S citizens do not hold local
elections in the same regards as they do the presidential elections. Citizens view city elections
with little to no importance. I used to be one of the people who would not pay any attention to
the local elections or to elections, in general. That was not until I joined a local political
campaign during the summer. The workers there are very passionate about voting and their
candidate. Some of that passion has rubbed off on me. Although they love their candidate and
believe everyone should support him, to them a person who is not voting at all is worse than not
voting for their candidate.
This campaign is different for other campaigns in the methods used to get supporters.
Normally a campaign mostly uses mass media to reach out to voters. Candidates usually depend
on the use of media platforms such television advertisements, radio advertisements, debates on
television, and posters posted around the city to get there name and platform out there. The
campaign I work with puts most of its effort into field work. This means they spend most of their
time personally contacting voters. They personally contact voters through different means of
communication such as canvassing which is going door-to-door, phone calls, and local events.
However, it is entirely impossible for staff of about 40 individuals to contact thousands of
people. So, they are dependent on volunteers to help out. What inspired me to choose this topic
was a session that was held called GOTV training. GOTV stands for Get Out The Vote. GOTV
was a meeting where all the volunteers were gathered together to discuss operations on how the
campaign will be moving forward during the early voting period, the days leading up to Election
Day, and Election Day. The purpose of Get Out The Vote is hinted in the name itself. It is a
method of increasing voter turnout. It is an attempt to make sure that supporters go to the polls
and vote.

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For the research aspect of the paper, I used qualitative research and quantitative research
methods. I conducted a few interviews with experts which were very informative and insightful.
I used the internet, the HCCS database, and the HCCS library to find sources. Google was a very
helpful search engine of finding articles and secondary sources. Google scholar was very good
for finding primary sources, statistics, graphs, and various data I could analyze. I broke my topic
into small questions starting with who, what, when, where, why, and how, to analyze every single
detail of the subject. This allows me to see from different perspectives. I am able to see from the
perspective of a campaign and from the point of view of the voters. I asked questions to find the
cause for low voter turnout and the effects of a low voter turnout. The HCC online databases was
also good for finding primary sources and books to use which I could get from the library in
person. The articles I found had at least 1 study that it was based on. On the Internet I found very
reliable sources from Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a reliable source since anyone can change
what it says so I did not use the information it provided. Although Wikipedia is not dependable,
it is very good for getting authentic sources. The sources that were used to create the Wikipedia
page are located at the bottom. Much of my sources are from .org sites making them very
reliable.
In a report produced by fairvote.org, it shows the turnout rate of registered voters in
mayoral elections held from 2008 to 2011 among the 22 cities with the biggest populations. San
Francisco is the 13th most populous city and has the highest turnout with 42.5 percent. The
turnout rate of the largest city in the United States, New York City, was just 26 percent. Los
Angeles which is the 2nd largest city, turnout rate was 17 percent. In Chicago which is 3rd
largest city, had the biggest turnout rate among the 3 largest cities and the 2nd highest out of the
22 cities with 42 percent. Turnout in Houstons 2011 Mayoral election was just 13 percent.

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Houstons population was about 2.161 million in 2011. This means that out of the 2.127 million
people that lived in Houston, only 276,510 thousand people voted. As the largest city in Texas
and the 4th largest city in the United States a turnout rate of 13 percent is terrible. It is clear that
there is no correlation between population and turnout among registered voters but why is
turnout so low? Why do citizens not turnout in mayoral elections like they should? There are a
multitude of reasons.
The reasons can be minor. For example, one popular reason U.S citizens give is that they
are too busy. Americans tend to juggle family, work, and other obligations at once. As a result,
they do not have time to go to polls to vote. Plus, many people believe their vote does not count.
This idea originated from the belief that the Electoral College chooses the President and not the
voters. The truth is the popular vote in each state decides which candidate the Electoral College
supports for that state. Therefore, your vote does count within your state. Another problem is
many people cannot get to the polls. Getting to the polls can be hard for those with disabilities,
illnesses, or without transportation. Also citizens may not vote because they do not like any of
the candidates or the lines are too long.
Reasons can also be very serious. One challenge facing voters specifically ex-convicts is
their criminal record. According to A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31Country Perspective, the United States is the only world democracy that allows convicts rights
to vote to be banned for life. Although most felons and ex-felons right to vote does not get taken
away, they are not aware that they can still vote depending on in the state they live in. Most
states let you vote if you have finished your incarceration time and your parole and/or your
probation. In many states you may lose your vote permanently depending on the crime, time
since your sentence was completed and other factors. Maine and Vermont are the only states that

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allow you to vote from prison. Another setback is the voting registration requirement. The United
States, unlike other democratic countries, requires people who want to vote to register to vote.
Whereas in other countries their voters are automatically registered by the government. In the
United States, citizens have to register themselves.
Lastly, many people do not care about or are uninterested in local elections. Many
individuals fail to see the role the local government play in their everyday lives. The local
government controls how a community functions. The local government is responsible for
wages, childrens education, the safety of the public, and maintaining a working infrastructure.
These responsibilities include determining how the money collected from taxes are spent,
providing public libraries, public transportation, public health and recreational facilities, the
funding for public schools, fixing roads, supplying clean water, collecting the garbage, and
making sure the police and firefighters are available when they are needed.
So, how can this be solved? For starters, it would be helpful to have Election Day on the
weekends instead of on Tuesdays. More people are most likely to be off of work on a Saturday or
a Sunday than a Tuesday. If it is not possible to move Election Day to a different day of the week
than how about we allow people to be excused from work to vote. In Minnesota, which is one of
the states with the highest voter turnout, voters can take time off from work to vote without being
penalized. In addition, the government should make registering to vote an easier task. Another
contributing factor to Minnesotas turnout rate is a type of voter registration called Same Day
Voter Registration. Same day voter registration allows any qualified resident of the state to go to
the polls or an election official's office on Election Day, register that day, and then vote
(NCSL.org). This allows voters to register for voting and cast their ballot on the same day.
Instead of registering being one process and voting being another, it is all one process. Many

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states voter registration deadline is 25 to 30 days before an election. It would be too late if
someone were to decide they wanted to vote 3 weeks before an election. Research conducted by
Michael McDonald at George Mason University shows that states with same-day registration
turnout rates are actually 5% to 7% higher than those that do not.
Finally, there is Early Voting, voting by mail, and Absentee Voting. Early Voting is a
period of time that lets all voters vote early before Election Day. 33 states and the District of
Columbia has an early voting period. Voting by mail is when every person votes by a mail ballot
instead of going to a polling location. Absentee Voting is like voting by mail except that it must
be requested. You can request one in every state. Many states have a no-excuse absentee ballot
meaning you request one then you can receive one without a reason. In the rest of the states an
excuse is required and it is not guaranteed you will receive it. All 3 are convenient for those that
travel and will not be in town on Election Day. They are also convenient for those who go on
Election Day because lines will be shorter. They are great for those who have illnesses or
disabilities that disable them from going to the polls. Early voting give those who are too busy,
time to vote in-person since early voting can be anywhere from a day to 45 days before the
election depending on the state they live in. The no-excuse absentee ballot is good for those
without transportation. Unfortunately there are many states that have the absentee ballot that
requires an excuse which gives citizens Election Day to vote. New York is an excuse required
absentee ballot state. New York City has over 8 million residents. That is too many people to
only have one day to vote.
It is up to the government to move Election Day to the weekend, to make registering
easier to accomplish, and to decide how their residents can vote whether it be through mail,

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absentee voting, or early voting. What power can individuals use to increase voter turnout
themselves?

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Works Cited
"Absentee and Early Voting." <i>Ncsl.org</i>. 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Denvir, Daniel. "Voter Turnout in U.S. Mayoral Elections Is Pathetic, But It Wasn't Always This
Way." <i>City Lab</i>. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
"Election 2015: The Science behind Increasing Voter Turnout." <i>Southern California Public
Radio</i>. N.p., 02 Mar. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
"FairVote.org | FairVote Report: Low Turnout Plagues U.S. Mayoral Elections, but San Francisco
Is Highest." <i>FairVote</i>. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
. "Local Elections Are More Important Than Donald Trump - Fight For Florida." <i>Fight For
Florida</i>. 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
"Same Day Voter Registration." <i>Nscl</i>. 2 June 2015. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
Taylor, Steven L., Matthew Soberg Shugart, Arend Lijphart, and Bernard Grofman. A Different
Democracy: American Government in a 31-country Perspective. Print.
Waithe, Aramenta. "The Responsibilities of City Government." <i>EHow</i>. Demand Media.
Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
"Why Is Turnout so Low in U.S. Elections? We Make It More Difficult to Vote than Other
Democracies." <i>MinnPost</i>. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
"Why Local Elections Matter More to Your Personal Finance." <i>Why Local Elections Matter
More to Your Personal Finance</i>.Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

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5 Ways To Fix Americas Dismal Voter Turnout Problem." <i>ThinkProgress 5 Ways To Fix
Americas Dismal Voter Turnout Problem Comments</i>. 09 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.