How does U.S. voter turnout compare to other OECD (wealthy) countries?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
What country had the highest voting-age population turnout (that is, what country had the highest percentage of voting age people - 18 and up in the U.S. - to vote)?
What country had the lowest voting-age population turnout?
In the U.S. voters have to “vote twice”, that is, they must register to vote and then they must vote. Some places now have automatic voter registration. What country had the highest registered-voter turnout?
In the U.S., there’s a huge gap between voting-age turnout (62.8% in 2020) and registered-voter turnout (94.1% that same year). In essence, registered voters in the U.S. are much more of a self-selected group than in other countries – already more likely to vote because, in most cases, they took the trouble to register themselves. Explain whether voting-age population turnout or registered-voter turnout is a better way to measure voter turnout.
Describe how the United States compares to other OECD countries when it comes to voting-age population turnout?
As of this past January, 19 states and the District of Columbia automatically register people to vote (unless they opt out) when they interact with the state motor vehicles department or other designated state agencies (see visual below*). Three other states are on track to fully implement automatic registration in the next few years. And North Dakota doesn’t require voter registration at all. Explain whether you will be automatically registered to vote when you turn 18?
In many countries, the national government takes the lead in getting people’s names on the voter rolls – whether by registering them automatically once they become eligible (as in, for example, Sweden or Japan) or by aggressively encouraging them to do so (as in the United Kingdom). In such countries, there’s often little difference in turnout rates among registered voters and the voting-age population as a whole. In other countries – notably the United States – it’s largely up to individual voters to register themselves. And the U.S. is unusual in that voter registration is not the job of a single national agency, but of individual states, counties and cities. That means the rules can vary considerably depending on where a would-be voter lives. What is one consequence of such low US voting rates?
What is one mechanism of the US electoral system that leads to such low voting-age population turnout rates?
Make a claim (argument) about whether states should automatically register their residents when they reach voting age.
Americans vote on Tuesday!!! Tuesday! Tuesday? Not a great day to get people out to the polls. Check out the Why Tuesday? website and then identify is one thing the US government could do to increase voting rates?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Register to vote and if you aren't old enough to vote, Register others to vote then convince one of them to vote to vote the way you wish you could vote. Pro Tip: Do NOT pay them to vote. That’s illegal.
Get Creative
What adjective best describes the level of voting in the U.S.?
Learning Extension*
Read this Pew Research Center story about American voter turnout compared to the world.
(WARNING, like in many Pew Research Reports, VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED).
