Why Don't We Vote More?

Perhaps the most striking figures in Table 6–1 are the total turnout percentages for 2002 and 2004. Why do only about half of eligible voters bother to turn out on election day? There are several possible explanations. The following are some commonly offered explanations for nonvoting:

• Not enough time to study and make an informed choice
• One vote won’t make a difference, so why bother?
• Neither candidate in an election is worth voting for
• Politics has become too negative and too partisan
• Overall satisfaction with the way things are going so there’s no perceived need to get involved

While all of these are reasonable explanations for why people don't vote, the last is the most compelling and accurate—most non-voters tend to be satisfied enough with the way things are going in this country that they don't see value in studying the candidates and voting in elections. The best evidence for this can be seen when things are NOT going well. When times are tough, voters perceive the stakes of elections to be higher than usual and they are more motivated to pay attention to campaigns and vote on election day. In the midst of growing economic turmoil, voter turnout in 2008 has higher than any presidential election since 1968.

Influences on Vote Choices

When voters cast their votes on election day, they are influenced by a variety of factors. The candidates and their personalities, the issues, and the state of the economy all have an impact on who the voters choose. By far the most significant predictor of how an individual will vote, however, is the political party he or she prefers.

How Our Votes Are Counted

In elections for national offices, namely the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate and the presidency, voters make their choices within different “constituencies.” For House elections, each state is divided into equally sized “districts” based on the number of representatives it is allocated in the House. Voters within each district cast their votes every two years to select an individual to represent them. In Senate elections, although each state is represented by two Senators, candidates compete for votes state-wide to serve staggered six-year terms.

Presidential election outcomes are based on what is by far the most complicated vote counting procedure in the United States (and perhaps the world). Voters in each state cast their votes for the presidential candidate they prefer and a winner is declared for each state. Instead of just adding up votes nationwide, the Framers sought to keep a voice for states as states in the election process. Consequently, presidents are elected on the basis of electoral votes. Each state has a number of electoral votes equal to the number of representatives it has in the House plus one vote for each of its two United States senators. For example, the state of Utah has five electoral votes because it has three House members and two senators. Since there are 435 members of the House and 100 senators, there are 535 electoral votes, plus three for the District of Columbia (an important addition resulting from the Twenty-third Amendment), making a grand total of 538. The dispute over ballots in Florida in 2000 centered on the fact that, although Al Gore held a lead in the overall popular vote nationwide, the winner of the majority of the votes in Florida would get all of Florida’s electoral votes and become the next president. When George W. Bush was declared the winner in Florida, that is precisely what happened.