The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for July 12, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Our last installment for “Why People Don’t Vote Week” discusses what solutions are being proposed to encourage eligible citizens to register and vote.

The Center for American Progress outlined reforms which would encourage registration and voting. They include Automatic Voter Registration, to encourage registration at the DMV when obtaining a license or car registration. Oregon registered 219,000 new voters by AVR before the 2018 midterm and 47% of them voted.

Online voter registration, which includes submitting identification and other documents electronically, has eased the hassle for working people to register. A study in Georgia found that 71% of online registrants turned out to vote, higher than in person or mail registration.

Preregistering 16 & 17 year olds is effective in getting younger voters engaged. They can’t vote until age 18, but often schools can encourage future voting when coupled with civics education. Florida saw a 4.7% jump in youth voting as a result.

Early voting and voting by mail helps all manners of people to vote, providing flexibility in schedules for parents and working citizens. In the last few weeks, Georgia has shattered its early voting records.

What are your options for registering and voting? Contact your city or county election office or website for details. Do it now, for you, your state and your county.
Articles and links to groups taking action are at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles:
Center for American Progress – Increasing Voter Participation in America
National Conference of State Legislatures-   Automatic Voter Registration
National Conference of State Legislatures-  Online Voter Registration
National Affairs- Does High Voter Turnout Help One Party?

Groups Taking Action:
Movement Voter Project, Voto Latino, Black Voters Matter, Vote.org, When We All Vote,  Vote411

Vote Riders

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers

The post Why People Don’t Vote Week: Some of the Solutions to Getting Nonvoters to Register & Vote appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for July 11, 2024

Brian is on vacation this week, but we’re rerunning an informative series from 2021 on why American’s don’t vote.

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

We continue our “Why People Don’t Vote Week” with why eligible citizens don’t register to vote.   Polls show that it’s a combination of apathy, available time, lack of information, and other social and systemic barriers.     

In a 2020 poll of Nonvoters by NPR, 29% of nonvoters surveyed said they didn’t vote because they weren’t registered.   This and other polls show that nonvoters consume less news media, and are less engaged in the community than voters, so they may not see announcements on how, when and where to register and vote.  

A larger Knight Foundation Study entitled “The Hundred Million Project” after the 100 Million Americans who don’t vote in national elections, found that 5% of  nonvoters cite not being registered, and 7% say they don’t have time to vote.  These reasons rank below “Don’t like the candidates” and “Voting Doesn’t Matter” in most studies, but if you’re not registered, not liking the candidates is a mute point. 

Apathy is the biggest reason people aren’t registered.   “I’m not interested/Don’t Care” is the top reason, but “I don’t know how,” “It’s Too Complicated”, “I keep forgetting” and “I’m Too Busy,” are all cited factors.

What can be done to reach and convince nonvoters to register?  We have some proposed solutions in our next report.  We have links to the studies and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.    For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Knight Foundation – The Hundred Million Project study
CNN/SSIS Poll – Americans’ confidence in elections has faded since January 6
Brennan Center – Poll: Majority of Voters Confident Midterms Will Be Conducted Fairly, with Reliable Results
Associated Press – Many remain critical of state of US democracy: AP-NORC pollFiveThirtyEight.com – Why Many Americans Don’t Vote
NPR – Poll: Despite Record Turnout, 80 Million Americans Didn’t Vote. Here’s Why
CNBC – ‘I don’t plan to vote ever again’: The psychology of why so many people don’t vote, even in 2020
American Progress – Increasing Voter Participation in America

Groups Taking Action:
Movement Voter Project, Voto Latino, Black Voters Matter, Vote.org

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VoterRegistration #RegistertoVote

The post Why People Don’t Vote Week: You Can’t Vote if You Don’t Register — So Why Don’t Nonvoters Register? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for July 10, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Today, we have another in our series of why Americans don’t vote.  In the 2016 election, over 41%, 100 million people, didn’t vote at all, despite a contentious and competitive election. One of the reasons cited in a poll after the 2016 election was a lack of faith in the electoral system.

The Knight Foundation’s 2020 study found that 27% of nonvoters said the system was rigged or corrupt.  Two years later, in July 2022, a CNN poll of both nonvoters and voters showed that just 42% of Americans had some confidence that the results of US elections reflect the will of the people.  In the wake of the January 6th hearings, polls by Monmouth University and the Brennan Center in September and October 2022 show a only slight majority of Americans are confident in our electoral  system.   The Midterm turnout will show whether Big Lie disinformation succeeds in keeping more voters home.   

Of particular concern are trends among younger citizens who are eligible to vote, ages 18-24. The Knight Foundation found that while they consume media, they are less informed on news and politics than than even habitual nonvoters.  When asked whether more people voting is a good thing, only 56% of all younger citizens agreed, vs. 74% of all voters.  Alarmingly, 20% of younger eligible voters say voting doesn’t make any difference.

It remains to be seen whether issues like the attack on reproductive rights and the erosion of voting rights will be enough to activate these younger voters.   

Links to articles and the surveys can be found at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org  

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl

Today’s Links

Articles: 
Knight Foundation – The Hundred Million Project study
CNN/SSIS Poll – Americans’ confidence in elections has faded since January 6
Brennan Center – Poll: Majority of Voters Confident Midterms Will Be Conducted Fairly, with Reliable Results
Associated Press – Many remain critical of state of US democracy: AP-NORC poll
FiveThirtyEight.com – Why Many Americans Don’t Vote
NPR – Poll: Despite Record Turnout, 80 Million Americans Didn’t Vote. Here’s Why
CNBC – ‘I don’t plan to vote ever again’: The psychology of why so many people don’t vote, even in 2020

Groups Taking Action:
Movement Voter Project, Voto Latino, Black Voters Matter, Vote.org

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Vote #NotVoting #IVoted #GoVote

The post Why People Don’t Vote Week: Nonvoters Cite Lack of Faith in Electoral System as Reason Not to Show Up appeared first on American Democracy Minute.