The right, the duty, and the responsibility of voting

Nov. 3 there will be a midterm election, alongside that there will be multiple other elections held in Tennessee. Those include the Governor, Senator, House representative, and several city council positions, so the Tennessee Secretary of State, Tre Hargett, decided to sponsor a mock election throughout schools. This election would feature the candidates running for Governor, House, and Senate. After reviewing over the total votes here at MWHS the winners for each category goes as follows, Democrat candidate Jerri Green for Governor, Democrat Marquita Bradshaw as Senator, and Republican Dianna Harshbarger as the House seat. However something key to note is the election was met with a hefty low voter turnout.

Low voter turnout has been a consistent problem throughout the United State’s history, when looking at other countries' voter turnout they score significantly higher on average than the U.S. To show this if we look at the presidential election it averagely has 60% of eligible voters voting, but in other countries involving elections for similar positions they average 90% on the high end and 70% on the low end. Although some countries mandate voting, it still does not explain the reason for why U.S. elections see such lower voter turnout, but there are several reasons that could help explain this phenomenon. Some of these reasons include demographics, types of elections, and location.

  Some states are more competitive in voting than others, and being next to one or in one of these states is likely to increase voter turnout overall within that region. For example, Washington held an above average voter turnout in 2020, 75.7%, as it's known for its intense political environment, alongside that states near Washington all also held around 70%. Another important piece to consider when looking at voter turnout is what type of election is occurring. For example a presidential election is far more likely for people to come and vote compared to something like local elections. Some data to fully exemplify this can be found when comparing the 2019 Philadelphia mayor election and 2020 presidential election. The 2019 election saw a voter turnout of around 27%; however the presidential election had a turnout of approximately 65.3%. There are several demographic trends that relate to voter turnout, the major ones being age, race, gender, and economic status. When looking at the age of voters a noticeable tendency occurs, voters between the ages of 18 - 29 on average have a turnout rate 10 points lower when compared to people ages 30+. Additionally, race can impact turnout. In 2020 the turnout for people who were white was 71%, 63% for black voters, and a staggering 54% for Latino voters. A unique trend out of these statistics is, the fact that since 1980 women have had a higher turnout percentage compared to men, in the 2020 election 68% of eligible women voted while 65% of eligible men voted. Lastly, people who sit in the upper classes have a significantly higher voter turnout than compared to poorer voters, and some data that visualizes this occurs during the 2020 election. Individuals who made between $100,000 - $149,999 had a turnout of 81% while people whose income sat between $30,000 - $39,999 was only 63.6%. Additionally, politicians are more likely to listen or prioritize richer voters which could help explain this.

One reason for voter turnout that hasn't been covered yet is a great deal of people feel as though their votes do not matter, but when looking at data from across the country’s history it becomes apparent that if everyone were to step out to go vote the health of our country and its democracy would thrive. To conclude, a vote does matter. Vote when you can, as change can never occur through silence.