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If our nation were to get a grade on our election turnouts, it would be a big red F. We're reminded by the scolding pundits that we are supposed to be the greatest democracy in the world, yet so many of us, especially teens, don't bother to exercise one of our greatest rights: the right to vote. The youth vote is the most elusive quarry in United States politics, but also the most sought after. A simple way to gain the favor of youth voters is to change the election day.
On Nov. 2, voters will get to exercise one of their democratic rights. While Americans have a civic responsibility to vote, the tradition of scheduling election day on a Tuesday can pose a problem. For legal age Lowell students, this means rushing to the voting areas after school, only to be dismayed by the long lines during peak after-work times. As Americans trail far behind most of the world in voter turnout rates, the election date has become a main target for reformers. Changing the voting day to Saturday will give more people the opportunity to vote.
Since 1845, voters have been journeying to the polls on a Tuesday. Back then, we were an agrarian society, traveling by horse and carriage. Farmers needed a day to get to the county seat, a day to vote and a day to get back. Wednesday was market day, so Tuesday was the best day for farmers to get to the polls. But, 163 years later, a lot has changed. It is time for Congress to accommodate this change by changing the voting day to fit modern times.
Our nation proudly boasts of universal suffrage, but in reality, less than half the nation actually takes advantage of their right to vote, even though we have fought for, marched for and even died for that right. The American voting turnout of 47 percent are particularly alarming when compared with those of other democratic nations, like Japan and Germany, where 89 percent of voters go to the polls. In fact, most democracies have about 80 percent voter participation. Out of the 153 democracies in the world, the United States ranks near the bottom for voter involvement, according to CNN.com. In San Francisco, the statistics are even grimmer. In the past 10 elections, only 42 percent of San Franciscan voters actually took the time to vote, according to Ground Floor Public Affairs political consultant Alex Tourk.
With such low percentages, there must be something preventing voters from traveling to the polls. When asked why they didn’t vote in the 2008 presidential election, one in four Americans said it was due to scheduling, work commitments, driving kids to school or preparing dinner for the family, according to the 2008 Survey of the Performance of American Elections. The same problem occurs for high school and college students. According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, only 42 percent of eligible young people between the ages of 18 to 24 voted in the 2000 presidential election.
Convenience is definitely an issue for youth voters and a Saturday election is very convenient. Voting on a day of leisure will increase the number of Americans who have time to head to the polls. According to a report by the U.S Census, early voting at convenient locations increased youth turnout. Changing the voting day to Saturday could harness this youth voting power.
In preparation for this year’s November elections, the WhyTuesdaySF campaign in San Francisco is rallying to pass a newly proposed Saturday Voting Act. This measure would add the Saturday before the traditional Tuesday election day as an alternative for voters to cast their ballots. If passed, this would become the first election to be held for two days and on a weekend. “If we really want to increase access to the democratic process, especially for working families, we should do what the rest of the world does and vote on Saturday,” Alex Tourk, head of Ground Floor Public Affairs said. “I just think it's the right thing to do, and I believe more people voting in San Francisco is a good thing.”
We as a nation should be more open when it comes to giving citizens as many opportunities as possible to vote. It is bad for our democracy to have less than 50 percent of eligible voters voting, when Iran, in their celebration of democracy, had a 90 percent turnout of it’s citizens . As promoters of democracy worldwide, we must be willing to improve our system whenever possible.
San Francisco leads the nation on a variety of issues. Why shouldn’t it lead the nation in changing the outdated election system by having Saturday elections?
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