Low Voter Turnout In Texas

To begin, political participation in the state of Texas has been declining in recent years. The cause for the diminishing participation is related to the low voter turnout in Texas, as well as the citizens’

The people of Texas are diverse and carry their “big can-do attitudes and accents” (Pearson); making Texas a bigger than life state. The political culture of Texas is impacted by two different subgroups of

Abbott Rejects Obama Criticism Of Texas Voter Turnout Efforts By Jamie Lovegrove Texas Tribune • Mar 14, 2016 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at a press conference on Monday dismissed President Obama's criticisms of the state's efforts to improve voter turnout, arguing that the state must crack down on "rampant" voter fraud. Jamie Lovegrove / Texas Tribune Texas Gov. Greg Abbott repudiated President Barack Obama’s recent criticisms of the state’s voter laws on Monday, arguing that Texas must remain vigilant against voter fraud. “What I find is that leaders of the other party are against efforts to crack down on voter fraud,” Abbott said. “The fact is that voter fraud is rampant. In Texas, unlike some other states

In the United States, for the last four decades, from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan through the two Bush Presidencies, the Republican Party won the White House by amassing large margins among white voters (Lizza.) The state of Texas has been reliably Republican since the 1970s and there are various elements to Texas political culture that can be narrowed down to three essential ideological trends: economic liberalism, or faith in the free market economy, social conservatism, or favoring traditional values and moralism, and populism, or promoting the rights and worthiness of ordinary people (Texas Political Culture.) As a result, the dominant political mood in Texas favors low taxes, minimal government services, and policies that are

“From 1972 to 2012, citizens 18-29 turned out at a rate 15 to 20 points lower than citizens 30 years older” from this data we can conclude that age is a demographic that affects voter turnout (What Affects Voter Turnout). Voting laws such as those of identification or registration impact voter turnout. For example, the introduction of early voting was meant to increase voter turnout, but has in fact decreased turnout (What Affects Voter Turnout). In response to the argument that the system lowers voter turnout rate, one should take the many other variables that contribute to turnout into account.

For the past couple of decades, the state of Texas has continued to rank among one of the lowest if not the lowest ranked state in terms of voter turnout among the 50th states. An abundance of people believe this is because of the lack of urgency of voters of just earn the eligibility to vote. Example of these type of people of first time voters and voters who just turned the eligible age to vote but do not bother in both registering for voting or do not bother voting at all. While there are, many ways for the state government to help encourage people to vote and possibly help the number voter turnout the government fails nearly every time to inform the people of how to register and fails to boost the voting numbers.

Data used for this term paper was obtained from Houghton Mifflin Company through the 1996 Voter's Data Set found as part of the Crosstabs package. The dependent variable (rows) I chose to highlight the 1996 U.S. presidential election voting pattern was the Final Voting Choice. The independent variables (columns) I chose were personal traits such as education, income, age, religious affiliations, race, and gender. The data made available by the Crosstabs program was compiled in a statistically scientific way by a national survey of citizens before and after the 1996 election. The objective of this research is to determine which of the personal traits of the electorate has a positive, negative, or an indifferent impact on voter turnout. Therefore, I have made the following five assertions in the below listed hypotheses:

In 1845, Texas became Democratic state once joining the United States. However, between the years of 1867 and 1873 Texas was govern by Republican Party. Soon after the Civil War in 1873, the primary party became Democratic (Owens, 2015). What few Republican candidates there were could not defeat the Democratic candidates. There were members of the Republican Party that would crossover and vote the Democratic candidates (Owens, 2015).

Lastly, another reason people do not vote is simple; they are not educated. They don’t understand how the government system works. TCHI tells that “Texans were not aware about even voting” (Texas 21). Most Texans are not informed about what the politicians are offering either. This will result in an overwhelming feeling for whom they will be voting. This is why it is essential being informed and educated about

The voter turnout in Texas has been low for a very long time. For the past 50 years the numbers of citizens that participate in the national, state, and local elections have decreased. Voters turn-out is the percentage of voters that are able to vote legally, that actually cast a vote in the elections. There are a number of things that can increase the percentage but I’m sure these examples will never happen. I believe that the voter turnout is low because people aren’t into politics because many believe they are all corrupt. People rather not vote because they believe their vote won’t make a difference but in reality I will make an impact. There are other reasons people choose not to vote such as not being registered, disabilities, being

Obstacles to voting and the absent voting of pure independents are the reason of low turnout in the U.S. today, which may also have great influence both politically and legally. The voter turnout is the percentage of qualified voters who actually go to an election to cast a ballot. Overall, the voter turnout in America is low, with only between 51 and 57 percent of eligible voters going to polls in presidential elections from 2004 to 2012. The reason why America has such a low turnout is because of several obstacles in voting. The U.S. do not provide paid holiday for voters who are workers to vote or well-structured politics for different racial voters, other obstacles like advanced registration and absentee voting also make the voting more difficult for voters. The pure independents, who are unlike independent leaners or behaviour independents, are less well informed and less care about the election information and also definitely less likely to vote on the Election Day, they do not have any preference for any candidates or parties. As Hershey mentioned in his book,

The U.S Constitution gives the states considerable latitude in the way of conducting elections. The American citizens have many opportunities to vote. However, a turnout in American elections has dramatically decreased over the past several decades. In order to address this issue, majority of states have allowed absentee voting reforms. These convenient reforms are thought to increase the voter turnout in the elections, as well as to reduce administrative costs.

I believe that many people in Texas do not care to vote because of apathy and the majority see a system that is corrupt, full of lies and

Texas is a state that has always been recognized for its size and politics. Elections are a huge part of democratic societies that are intended for citizens to choose their public leaders and approve the policies set by candidates. Political parties and interest groups also play a key role in shaping opportunities for public participation. Most Texans and historians know that the Democratic Party’s historical dominance is important to state politics. It is less likely that people are not aware of the consequences of the one-party system for public participation and democracy in Texas. Like many of the rim South states, the white elitist belonged to the Democratic Party which stemmed from the end of Reconstruction until the late 20th

In the article “The Myth of the Vanishing Voter” by Michael P. McDonald and Samuel L. Popkin, it is argued that the decline in voter participation in national elections since 1972 is an illusion created by the Bureau of the Census because it uses the voting-age population to calculate voter turnout instead of calculating the population of citizens who are eligible to vote (2001, 963).