What causes low turnout?

[k-onmmunist]

Turnout has fallen to historically low levels in recent years, with it only polling at 61% in the UK 2005 general elections, and 59% in 2001, down from around 75% in 1997. What reasons do you think there are for this in general?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     In the United States, I suspect low turnout usually has to do with lack of enthusiasm & interest on the part of the youth, since the elderly usually vote in large numbers. I don't know if the same holds true in the United Kingdom, though.

[Marokai Backbeat]

PiT is right about some percentage of the population being disaffected, but there are other reasons.

Low turnout can also be caused by the fact that many people simply can't take off work to go spend 4 hours in line to vote, or simply don't want to spend the time doing it because of the low amount of voting booths causing extraordinary wait times.

If we made election day a federal holiday, and put more money into expanding voting stations, you'd see turnout alot higher than it is now. As it stands, the system is heavily biased against the working classes.

[dead0man]

apathy

[Vepres]

PiT is right about some percentage of the population being disaffected, but there are other reasons.

Low turnout can also be caused by the fact that many people simply can't take off work to go spend 4 hours in line to vote, or simply don't want to spend the time doing it because of the low amount of voting booths causing extraordinary wait times.

If we made election day a federal holiday, and put more money into expanding voting stations, you'd see turnout alot higher than it is now. As it stands, the system is heavily biased against the working classes.

Absentee ballots are pretty easy to get.

[Brandon H]

In most cases the media makes you believe you only have a choice of two candidates, and they both suck. (But remember, you live in a free country so you can pick which one.)

[War on Want]

Voting should be compulsory.

[Lief 🗽]

Voting should be compulsory.

[phk]

Voting should be compulsory.

Uhm. No.

[Hatman 🍁]

Voting should be compulsory.

^^^

Works for Australia.

And WTF? four hour wait times? ridiculous! there are easy ways of fixing that problem...

[Frodo]

PiT is right about some percentage of the population being disaffected, but there are other reasons.

Low turnout can also be caused by the fact that many people simply can't take off work to go spend 4 hours in line to vote, or simply don't want to spend the time doing it because of the low amount of voting booths causing extraordinary wait times.

If we made election day a federal holiday, and put more money into expanding voting stations, you'd see turnout alot higher than it is now. As it stands, the system is heavily biased against the working classes.

Absentee ballots are pretty easy to get.

Even so, the idea of making Election Day a federal holiday (at least during even-numbered years) holds merit for those who would rather not go through the process of having to get and then mail back an absentee ballot.

I know from personal experience that absentee ballots are dependent on the pace of mail delivery which is not always prompt.  And you never know if your ballot might get lost or fall in the wrong hands.  

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Voting should be compulsory.

what about freedom?

[Хahar 🤔]

Low turnout is the sign of a strong democracy. For instance, in the German election of March 1933, 39,655,029 people voted, with a turnout of 88.74%. In the German election of 2009, 44,005,575 people voted, with a turnout of 70.8%.

Whether low turnout is desirable is another issue altogether.

[Lief 🗽]

Voting should be compulsory.

what about freedom?

Those who would rather not vote are free to leave the country or vote NOTA.

[KuntaKinte]

One main reason, in Germany at last, is the decline of traditional milieus. Both the number of unionized workers and catholic church attenders has been going down for decades, and the same is true for agricultural communities and so on. Individualism destroyes the old party loyalities.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Voting should be compulsory.

what about freedom?

Those who would rather not vote are free to leave the country or vote NOTA.

     If you are apathetic enough to vote NOTA (only an option for citizens of the state of Nevada), why should you be forced to go out to vote? If mandatory voting were instituted, I wouldn't be surprised to see NOTA get 20-30% in Nevada.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Due to your crazy election laws and so on, the situation in America isn't really comparable to anywhere else.

One main reason, in Germany at last, is the decline of traditional milieus. Both the number of unionized workers and catholic church attenders has been going down for decades, and the same is true for agricultural communities and so on. Individualism destroyes the old party loyalities.

This is an excellent point and is true to an extent (and in various different ways) in most Western countries. Another factor is the decline of mass membership parties - to the extent that it's almost a little silly to call them that anymore. In Britain it's possible to add the castration and centralisation of local government in the '70's and '80's to this list. The overall effect is that individual citizens are far more removed from the political process than they were even a few decades ago, to say nothing of, say, the '50's and '60's.

That the leaderships of most Social Democratic parties have forgotten how to motivate their electorate is another factor, of course. Which isn't to deny that it's not as easy to do that as it used to be...

[k-onmmunist]

Voting should be compulsory.

Uhm. No.

[Platypus]

I blame Politics.

[Hash]

To start off, you have certain demographic bases which don't turnout as much. In Canada, natives, disaffected people in the Maritimes, and kooky nats in Quebec don't vote much.

In France, turnout is lower in cities (and high in affluent suburbia), mountains, disaffected proletarian and border towns, and Corse in national elections. Urban abstention doomed Jospin a lot in 2002, with Île-de-France having abstention almost as high as Corse.

In Canada, the uber-low turnout in 2008 was caused by voter apathy towards the awful choices, the unpopularity of the election call. In Quebec in 2008, the low turnout was caused by apathy (Charest, Marois, Mario: what a great choice!) and again the unpopularity of the election call. Maybe also the predictability of the election: PLQ majority.

In France, the record low in 2002 was caused by apathy, a general discontent between Jospin and Chirac, and the fact that everybody said the runoff was obviously Jospin-Chirac. In 2007, the high turnout was caused by the 'renewal' of the political scene: Sarkozy, Royal, Bayrou were all inspiring and a breath of fresh air (to some, now they're all awful tards), Sarkozy's populist-demago campaign, Bayrou's anti-system Le Pen-like campaign and so forth. And also a bit of OMG LE PEN IN RUNOFF hysteria. Low turnout in the subsequent legislative elections was because they were held a month after the presidential runoff and because everybody knows the outcome of French legislative elections called after a presidential election (LANDSLIDE). The high turnout in the 2004 regionals was anti-government backlash. Low turnout in Euros is obviously apathy towards Europe, little to no knowledge of what the hell they vote for. The fact that France still has majority turnout in local elections unlike the UK or Canada is based on the fact that there's a strong sense of attachment in the land of Jacobinism to local institutions, communities, cantons and so forth. Just look at the uproar when they wanted to remove the departmental ID number from license plates, lol.

[You kip if you want to...]

Voting should be compulsory.

With an option for "None of the above", of course it should be.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I know Libertarians would curse me now, but voting should be compulsory.

[KuntaKinte]

The overall effect is that individual citizens are far more removed from the political process than they were even a few decades ago, to say nothing of, say, the '50's and '60's.

I think the political laguage is one reason too. If you read or listen to parliamentary speeches from the 1950's or so, most politicians were speaking very clear and down-to-earth, compared to the bubble of buzzwords that political "discourse" has become during the last years. In my country and I guess in your country too.

That the leaderships of most Social Democratic parties have forgotten how to motivate their electorate is another factor, of course. Which isn't to deny that it's not as easy to do that as it used to be...

Oh don't tell me about that. I'm I Social Democrat and I'm pretty damn sure that no political party in the history of mankind ever made such a bad job in political marketing than the SPD during the last four years...

[k-onmmunist]

I know Libertarians would curse me now, but voting should be compulsory.

As much as I would love it if more people voted, the fact is that some people are genuinely apolitical, and I don't see it as fair to force them into an uninformed decision.

[dead0man]

I know Libertarians would curse me now, but voting should be compulsory.

As much as I would love it if more people voted, the fact is that some people are genuinely apolitical, and I don't see it as fair to force them into an uninformed decision.

Ever wonder why the "anti-right" are always big on forced voting?