I'm of the opinion that more people voting is not a good thing.
U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
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Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#22Interesting that % of registered voters that vote in the US is incredibly high (86%) even if the number of registered voters is low (hence the low % of eligible voters actually voting). 86% is right up there with countries like Belgium and Australia where voting is compulsory and the obligation to vote (or turn up at a polling place…) is enforced. Switzerland seems odd on the face of it to me - what explains low turn…
There have been made some studies in Switzerland [1][2] why turnout is usually somewhere between 40 and 45%. Main reasons:
* Not interested.
* Not competent enough to make a decision.
* Social isolation.
* Frustration.
* Some participate in other ways than voting.
Some other interesting facts from 2015 [3]:
* 30% turnout of young people between 18 and 30 years.
* 67% turnout of old people between 65 and 74 years.
* 53% of men participate, 46% of women participate.
* Old women do participate less than young women, possibly because Switzerland introduced votes for women very late in 1971.
* The concordance system [4] leads to less fluctuations in the composition of the government. It's not like in the US, where you have only 2 completely different parties fighting each other. So, less changes, less reasons to go to vote.
* Many people are happy with the status quo. Another reason to skip voting.
[1] https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/warum-die-mehrheit-sc...
[2] https://www.beobachter.ch/politik/wahlen-2019/wahlen-2019-wi...
[3] https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/eidgenoessische-wahlen-2019/wahle...
Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#23This should surprise nobody. I live in a blue state. My vote is practically meaningless because of the electoral college system. Yes, there's some signalling to be done, but on affecting the short term outcome? Nada. MLK has a great quote, "“Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will." That's exactly what our current presidential race offer…
There's primaries and state and local elections and in many states there are referendum. Thinking of voting as something that is only done every four years for president is one of the problem with voting in the US.
I don't disagree. This article is about the presidential elections, however.
Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#24Interesting that % of registered voters that vote in the US is incredibly high (86%) even if the number of registered voters is low (hence the low % of eligible voters actually voting). 86% is right up there with countries like Belgium and Australia where voting is compulsory and the obligation to vote (or turn up at a polling place…) is enforced. Switzerland seems odd on the face of it to me - what explains low turn…
Why do people even need to register to vote? In Sweden every eligible voter receive their "voting card" by mail a couple of weeks before an election.
You still have to register in Australia, too, even if it is compulsory to vote.
Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#25Interesting that % of registered voters that vote in the US is incredibly high (86%) even if the number of registered voters is low (hence the low % of eligible voters actually voting). 86% is right up there with countries like Belgium and Australia where voting is compulsory and the obligation to vote (or turn up at a polling place…) is enforced. Switzerland seems odd on the face of it to me - what explains low turn…
I don’t think Belgium enforces showing up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_voting#Modern_era: “in practice fines are no longer issued for non-voters”
Switzerland is a confederation and has lots of referendums, where the entire population decides on a policy, not on who should decide on policies. Both limit the power of the national government.
However, reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_in_Switzerland, voter turnout is low in their referendums, too.
Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#26Interesting that % of registered voters that vote in the US is incredibly high (86%) even if the number of registered voters is low (hence the low % of eligible voters actually voting). 86% is right up there with countries like Belgium and Australia where voting is compulsory and the obligation to vote (or turn up at a polling place…) is enforced. Switzerland seems odd on the face of it to me - what explains low turn…
It's hilarious how deeply ingrained the insanity is. Registering to vote is just not a thing outside the US. The percentage of people who come to vote, then vote is all of them .
We have to register to vote in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register
The same sort of dogwhistles about 'voter fraud' have been getting airtime in the media as well so I'm sure it won't be long before we have widespread disenfranchisement, just like in the US.
Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#27Interesting that % of registered voters that vote in the US is incredibly high (86%) even if the number of registered voters is low (hence the low % of eligible voters actually voting). 86% is right up there with countries like Belgium and Australia where voting is compulsory and the obligation to vote (or turn up at a polling place…) is enforced. Switzerland seems odd on the face of it to me - what explains low turn…
Why do people even need to register to vote? In Sweden every eligible voter receive their "voting card" by mail a couple of weeks before an election.
There's no common official record on where someone lives in the US, as well as many other countries in the anglosphere. You don't officially register at an address when you move there, although updating drivers licenses which are state issued are sometimes optionally connected to voter registrations (which are often county or municipality-managed).
Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#28The US also lacks a broad based workers party like a Labour Party in UK or Australia. The people that don’t vote probably would vote for such a party.
If anything, the Democratic party is far too broad already even compared to a modern Labour party. I think the platform is more alienating than the breadth, in this case.
Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#29Interesting that % of registered voters that vote in the US is incredibly high (86%) even if the number of registered voters is low (hence the low % of eligible voters actually voting). 86% is right up there with countries like Belgium and Australia where voting is compulsory and the obligation to vote (or turn up at a polling place…) is enforced. Switzerland seems odd on the face of it to me - what explains low turn…
It's hilarious how deeply ingrained the insanity is. Registering to vote is just not a thing outside the US. The percentage of people who come to vote, then vote is all of them .
That’s because the USA doesn’t have a formal registry of where its citizens live (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_registration#United_S...)
They simply cannot send every citizen a letter (or email).
(The UK is in the same boat)
Re: U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (2018)
#30Given the current discussion on political apathy in the US I think this data fits well into this pattern. Looking at the voter turnout for United States (2016) of the of voting-age population you have merely 55.70% voting. (For comparison, the scale goes up to 87.21% in Belgium). Only roughly HALF of the population casts their votes in federal elections. Since a lot of the current policing decisions are made on a sta…
One easy change with major effects (that is law in almost all OECD countries IIRC) would be to have votes only on sundays or official holidays. Having to vote on a work day disproportionally disadvantages workers.