Stop Complaining to ME… Voter Behavior and Thinking

1. Stop Complaining to ME…Voter Behavior and Thinking

2. What do you think…? • Talk with your neighbor.. Back of the THINK ABOUT IT Paper • What are 3 reasons why people (who are eligible to vote) DO NOT VOTE?

3. Why Don’t People Vote? Predict ion

4. Younger gen. Issues and current events Easy of registering – making aware Easier voting (app or online) Gov’t grab people off street Sign for DL or Draft – sign up to vote Reward/benefit (lollipop, cupcake) More interesting commercials More voting locations Before buy lottery ticket – register to vote Make it a holiday – no work (go vote) How to get people (especially young people) interested in voting? Maybe we need celebrities… Let’s take a look at one way… What do you think? Is this going to work? Writing Prompt #1 and #2 84% said YES

5. Maybe though…not everyone should vote…

6. Or…maybe we should be like Australia… • Australia Voter Turnout - 94-96% • Registering to vote and going to the polls are legal duties in Australia for citizens aged 18 and over, and failing to do so can result in a fine ($18) and potentially a day in court. • 65% in the UK's 2010 general election • 57% in the 2012 US presidential election. ONLY 25% said YES, WE SHOULD – GOOD IDEA Writing Prompt #3

7. Now…if you wanted to fight this without getting fined, what might you do as a voter? • Increase in recent years of what Australians call informal or spoiled ballots – • voters either mistakenly or intentionally submit a ballot that is blank or improperly filled in, which cannot be counted in the final tally. • Count for around 6% of the total votes cast • Taken together with the number of eligible voters who fail to register, the actual percentage for voter turnout in Australia's federal elections hovers in the low 80s

8. Procedural - AGE • Must be 18 The 26th Amendment "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age”

9. Procedural - Residence • Resident Aliens - NOPE Def: A foreigner who is a permanent resident of the country in which he or she resides but does not have citizenship No to Illegal Aliens as well The reason for that is to protect America from being subverted from within by other countries However…how do the American people feel? Why?

10. Dealing with Illegal Immigration and voting…

11. Early on…lead the nation in Illegal Immigrant ID Cards - open bank accounts, sign apartment leases and access other services where a photo ID is required. Dealing with Illegal Immigration and voting… [At National Level – no]…But at the local level, all residents are already "citizens" in the sense that one definition of citizen is "an inhabitant of a city or town." Immigrants should not have to wait until they're naturalized to be able to vote for the school board or the city council, which have important effects on their lives ~Law professor

12. Procedural - (Absentee Ballot) • ILL or Physically Disabled • If unable to leave the house, they would have needed to apply for an Absentee ballot, but if it happened suddenly (day before election…couldn’t go)

13. Procedural- (Absentee Ballot) • Expect to be Out of Town – college, business trip • Could happen suddenly • If unexpectedly called away, they would not have time to apply for an Absentee ballot

14. Procedural- (Absentee Ballot) Those serving in the military

15. Procedural – Adults in Prison • Can’t vote - Why? Govt reason - They have proven themselves unfit to make one of life's most important decisions: choosing the nation's leaders. "If you aren't willing to follow the law, you can't claim the right to make the law for everyone else.“

16. Here in Pennsylvania… Some states - Maine and Vermont allowed jailed felons to vote

17. A few years ago, PA stipulated that you had to be out of jail for at least 5 years (9 million voters) before you were able to vote again HOWEVER courts ruled this UNCONSTITUTIONAL

18. Procedural – Mentally Ill • If you are declared by professionals to be mentally incompetent, you are barred from voting in some states • Let’s look at PA  • 490,000 citizens are diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's. • Another 350,000 citizens are mentally handicap. • “Some of them don't understand the basics of how voting works -- for instance, that the person with the most votes wins” -- said Dr. Jason Karlawish, an associate professor with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics • PA  No statute or provision disqualifying a person with mental illness from voting. PA population- 12.77 million

19. Procedural • Cumbersome (Election Procedures) • Such as… registration, showing ID, Voting in a specific location

20. Voter ID (US Citizens)… hot topic…old Poll Taxes? IF YOU DON’T REQUIRE A PHOTO ID - makes it easy for people to vote more than once or under names not their own, inviting fraud that compromises the integrity of elections. *If one must have an ID to drive, rent a hotel room, or buy alcohol, they argue, requiring it to vote is reasonable. Critics of voter ID laws say that the threat of voter fraud is wildly exaggerated and that such requirements disenfranchise certain communities

21. Who are they?

22. Why wouldn’t you have Photo ID? To get Photo ID – need your birth certificate To get a Birth Certificate – need your Photo ID

26. PA TRIED– 2012 – Gov. Corbett signed Voter ID Law • A Pennsylvania judge in January (2014) struck down the law requiring voters in the state to show photo identification at the polls • “the requirement imposed ‘unreasonable burden’ on voters” • Corbett  Will not take it to the next level • Who challenged the law? – • Civil (NAACP) and voters' rights groups (ACLU) 1 million registered voters, or about 12.7 percent of the state’s registered voters, lacked valid identification to cast ballots under the new law.

27. So…what does that mean for PA…? • Will continue with its current voter verification process: • A voter's signature is compared to a signature on file

28. The Candidates It is more common in state and local elections to have a lower voter turnout *suffer from BALLOT FATIGUE - def: the further down the ballot an office is, the fewer number of votes will be cast

29. The Candidates - • SATISFIED WITH WHOEVER • They are satisfied with the political world as they see it – No matter who wins the election, things will continue to go well for them

30. The Candidates • DISTRUST THE SYSTEM • Distrust politicians and politics – That government by the people has been taken over by: greedy politicians, powerful special interest groups, and the media

31. The Candidates • No One They Like • They just don’t like the candidates, their issues, their morals, etc… .

32. The Candidates • Lack of Interest • Most often they do not know the simplest factors about the candidates and issues • Question? Is it wrong NOT TO VOTE because you don’t know the facts? Vote or Die (DVD)

33. Personal Reasons • Oops… Forgetting to vote • A common explanation – just get too busy dealing with other things

34. Personal Reasons – Religious Beliefs • They believe that acts such as voting are idolatry (def: worship of any image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic deity) Jehovah’s Witness, Anabaptists, Hutterines, Mennonites, German Baptists, Dunkwards, Moravians, Separatists, Congregationalists, The Amish, and certain other types of Baptists

35. Personal Reasons – • NO REAL DIFFERENCE • They are convinced that it makes no real difference so they choose not to go to the polls Electoral College picks President anyway!

36. Personal Reasons • No Transportation to or from polling place

37. Personal Reasons • LONG LINES and deal with CROWDS • Polls open and close at certain times • Can you get time off of work? • What if you work a 12-14 hr. shift? • Average wait time? • Nation (2012)? Michigan voters spent an average of 21.9 minutes waiting National rate of 11.9 minutes

38. Personal Reasons • Time Zone Fallout • East Coast Polls close however West Coast is still OPEN…Media projects winner

39. Other Personal Reasons…

40. The Administration of ElectionWhat to do on election day?

41. When are the General Elections (big deal ones) held? In NOVEMBER – Tuesday-after-the-first-Monday Primaries State law establishes the date for the primary election Ex: PA  May 20, 2014 PA  May 19, 2015 (Municipal)

42. When are the General Elections held? Why so specific? Why not just pick a specific date? Prevents Election Day from falling on a: Sunday

43. When are the General Elections held? Why so specific? Prevents Election Day from falling on a: Why not the first Tuesday? First day of the month (for some - $$ day)

44. Oops – I have to register Paper Way  post office Or Online  *Still have to send it in the mail

45. Oops – I have to register Online  *Still have to send it in the mail (PRINT OFF)

46. What if I won’t be around to vote? • Most states make provisions for absentee voting • Def: voting by those unable to get to their regular polling places on election day

47. Application for Absentee Ballot

48. Must give a VALID reason…

49. 3 groups who can apply 1) those too ill or disabled to make it out 2) those who expect to be out of town (business trip, college, vacation) 3) Those serving in the military ALREADY WROTE DOWN YESTERDAY Have to apply for an absentee ballot within a specific period of time, mark the ballot, seal it, and return it to the proper local election official

50. VOTING IS NOT ALWAYS PERFECT Can you spot the oops? 300 Absentee ballots with the gaffe were mailed out to voters in Rensselaer County, NY - once caught – 3700 were destroyed and new ones mail out)