Post by Keith on May 26, 2007 18:44:09 GMT -8
Voter apathy is an understandable thought yet can be very dangerous at the same time. The biggest effect that voter apathy presents is the lack of voter turnout at the polls. That's not going to be good for either one side of the political spectrum. However, it seemed that there was somewhat of an increased voter turnout in the '04 election. For a few weeks before election night, I took up a job with the John Kerry Campaign for the local county Democratic Party.
I went out to various neighborhoods around the county, mostly African-American neighborhoods. Currently, the African-American community are the Democratic Party's biggest base. People were actually glad we came out to see them with the canvassing and knocking on their doors. From what I learned, they hardly get visitors that come around to their neighborhoods. In a sense, it kind of did away with some of the voter apathy.
Asides from canvassing neighborhoods, I took a very active role with the campaigning. I've done various things such as phone banking and typing up flyers. In order to combat voter apathy, I made a header at the bottom of the flyer that said "If you don't vote, you automatically vote for Bush." That's pretty much the truth, if you don't vote for one person, you automatically vote for the other person.
It's a very good example on how voter apathy can affect democracy in the United States. For all those people that didn't vote, their votes automatically go to the other person. Meaning around last year's election, for all the people that didn't vote at all meant their votes automatically went to G.W. Bush. Kerry wasn't that strong of a candidate from what I learned. Even people I worked with at the Kerry Campaign said so, and they were from Massachussetts, John Kerry's home state.
There can be various factors in play that causes voter apathy. Like me going out to the neighborhoods and visiting the people that live there. If nobody did what we did, those people would be highly apathetic and probably wouldn't show up at the polls on election night.
I have one uncle who's a Republican and his wife is a Democrat. They don't vote because to them, their votes would cancel each other out. The thought of having one vote cancelled out by the other vote too can lead to voter apathy. Because it can lead to voter apathy, that too is a highly dangerous factor at play.
There's another factor, one that wouldn't surprise me if it does lead to voter apathy. In a sense, it was an upset victory for G.W. Bush winning Ohio. For a moment, we thought that Florida would be the deciding state of this year's election. The next day after Bush won the United States Presidency for the second term, one person I worked with broke down into tears. It's understandable to feel that way after all the hard work she had put forth into the campaign and all for "nothing."
It's a 50/50 chance that it could lead to voter apathy. Though it's a 50 percent chance, we can't count out that possibility. No possibility should be counted out. This is a possible factor that shouldn't be counted out.
The biggest reason for voter apathy is that most people had just lost faith in the system. But it seems to have changed with the '06 elections where most of the Republicans have lost their seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives along with most of the state governorships.
Sadly, more people vote for the next American Idol than they do for the next United States President. That's one major impact that voter apathy has caused. Regardless the reasons for voter apathy, it's going to have a huge effect on United States democracy.
If a group of people do not vote, the person they do not like in office automatically gets their votes. For example if I do not like the incumbent who's in office and I don't go out and vote, that's one less vote counted against him/her. Meaning, I automatically voted for that person.
Without people going to the polls, politicians can pass all sorts of new laws, acts, etc. Like it or not, politics runs how we can live our lives. Voting apathy means you're giving away your voice and allowing yourselves to be silenced.
www.helium.com/tm/303533/voter-apathy-understandable-thought
I went out to various neighborhoods around the county, mostly African-American neighborhoods. Currently, the African-American community are the Democratic Party's biggest base. People were actually glad we came out to see them with the canvassing and knocking on their doors. From what I learned, they hardly get visitors that come around to their neighborhoods. In a sense, it kind of did away with some of the voter apathy.
Asides from canvassing neighborhoods, I took a very active role with the campaigning. I've done various things such as phone banking and typing up flyers. In order to combat voter apathy, I made a header at the bottom of the flyer that said "If you don't vote, you automatically vote for Bush." That's pretty much the truth, if you don't vote for one person, you automatically vote for the other person.
It's a very good example on how voter apathy can affect democracy in the United States. For all those people that didn't vote, their votes automatically go to the other person. Meaning around last year's election, for all the people that didn't vote at all meant their votes automatically went to G.W. Bush. Kerry wasn't that strong of a candidate from what I learned. Even people I worked with at the Kerry Campaign said so, and they were from Massachussetts, John Kerry's home state.
There can be various factors in play that causes voter apathy. Like me going out to the neighborhoods and visiting the people that live there. If nobody did what we did, those people would be highly apathetic and probably wouldn't show up at the polls on election night.
I have one uncle who's a Republican and his wife is a Democrat. They don't vote because to them, their votes would cancel each other out. The thought of having one vote cancelled out by the other vote too can lead to voter apathy. Because it can lead to voter apathy, that too is a highly dangerous factor at play.
There's another factor, one that wouldn't surprise me if it does lead to voter apathy. In a sense, it was an upset victory for G.W. Bush winning Ohio. For a moment, we thought that Florida would be the deciding state of this year's election. The next day after Bush won the United States Presidency for the second term, one person I worked with broke down into tears. It's understandable to feel that way after all the hard work she had put forth into the campaign and all for "nothing."
It's a 50/50 chance that it could lead to voter apathy. Though it's a 50 percent chance, we can't count out that possibility. No possibility should be counted out. This is a possible factor that shouldn't be counted out.
The biggest reason for voter apathy is that most people had just lost faith in the system. But it seems to have changed with the '06 elections where most of the Republicans have lost their seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives along with most of the state governorships.
Sadly, more people vote for the next American Idol than they do for the next United States President. That's one major impact that voter apathy has caused. Regardless the reasons for voter apathy, it's going to have a huge effect on United States democracy.
If a group of people do not vote, the person they do not like in office automatically gets their votes. For example if I do not like the incumbent who's in office and I don't go out and vote, that's one less vote counted against him/her. Meaning, I automatically voted for that person.
Without people going to the polls, politicians can pass all sorts of new laws, acts, etc. Like it or not, politics runs how we can live our lives. Voting apathy means you're giving away your voice and allowing yourselves to be silenced.
www.helium.com/tm/303533/voter-apathy-understandable-thought