Issue 123 Legal Corruption: Voting July 18, 2013

There is a form of legal corruption that prevents turn out on election days. We are not talking about Presidential elections, but all other elections that occur in the United States.

How they do it: What happens is that they have an election or a vote on a day other than a general election. So say there is a school budget vote, but they want to prevent turnout so the budget passes. Thus, they hold it separate from all other elections and votes that may be going on. In other words, if there is a sanitation budget vote and a vote for a seat in the local legislature, each will be held on a different day so as to prevent high voter turnout.

Why small numbers equal victory: It's simple really, only those motivated to vote will show up. People who want to vote or want their candidate or budget to pass will come and vote to ensure victory. Meanwhile everyone else is busy with their lives trying to make a living. These same people may not even know that a school budget vote is going on because they don't have kids, but will know about the local legislatures vote and show up to vote for that one. If they were held on the same day, then the person would have a chance to vote on that issue, but they are not. Thus, the people never actually have a chance to exercise their freedom of choice in certain votes due to them being uninformed.

Current elections: In the United States, the highest voter turn out is during a Presidential election. You can expect almost everyone to come out and vote on that day (the first Tuesday in November). However, the political primaries prior to it are almost anemic. Only a few people (at least from my experience) bother showing up to vote in the primaries which decides who the candidates for President or other political office will be. I tend to think of that as a problem as the people who win the primaries end up being one of the two possible winners in an election, including that of the President of the United States. I find it hard to fathom how my fellow Americans do not see such a vote as important (though I can't vote in any primary in New York State for I do not belong to any political party). Ladies and gentleman of the world, the United States has a problem.

A solution?!: What needs to happen is that these votes need to happen on certain days in the year that is both convenient and has all of the votes together. This means school budget votes, elections for sanitation commissioners, and even Presidential votes should happen on the same day. It would actually need a constitutional amendment, but the vote for a President should be moved to the second Saturday in November as Saturday is more convenient for the voting populace to come and vote. All votes, with the exception of primary and special elections would happen on this one day each and every year. This will insure the highest turn out possible for an election or vote.

As to primary and special elections, they should be held as late as possible to ensure candidates are vetted by debates and such. So my recommendation is that such an election or vote should occur on the last Saturday in July. Why the last Saturday of July? Simple, if all the primaries are held on the same day more people will come out to vote. I have worked as a poll inspector on two occasions in primaries, one for Republicans and Democrats during the contest between Obama and Romney and the other a primary for Independents. 21 people showed up for the Republican and Democrat primary, while only 3 showed up for the Independents primary. Special elections may garner more, but I have yet to work one myself, but I was paid $180 to work from 6 am to 10 pm to sit and do almost nothing all day. Holding them together, or in some cases in combination with special budget votes or even general budget votes and elections will increase turnout and actually make those elections count for something other than a select group of ideologues.

Conclusion: We need a change (unfortunately) in our election system. Many Americans just don't want to find time to vote as they either can't get off work, or are too tired to even bother. America has lost the idea of how valuable a vote is. Sure when working as a poll inspector I was working a small section of the voting establishment, but the numbers that come out each year on how many people come to vote is frightful in my opinion with less than 75% coming out to vote. Should it not be 100% as every vote affects us financially let alone our general lively hood? Increasing turnout can help to solve this issue, but more change is required. Can we fix the system and make things right?