Stop Complaining to ME Voter Behavior and Thinking

Stop Complaining to ME… Voter Behavior and Thinking

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?

Why Don’t People Vote? P r e d i c t i o n

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

Maybe though…not everyone should vote…

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. Writing Prompt #3 ONLY 25% said YES, WE SHOULD – GOOD IDEA

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 80 s

Procedural - AGE • Must be 18 The 26 th 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”

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 Why? protect America from being subverted from within by other countries However…how do the American people feel?

Dealing with Illegal Immigration and voting…

Dealing with Illegal Immigration and voting… 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. [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

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)

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

Procedural- (Absentee Ballot) Those serving in the military

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. “

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

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

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 PA population- 12. 77 million – 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.

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

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

Who are they?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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!

Personal Reasons • No Transportation to or from polling place

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

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

Other Personal Reasons…

The Administration of Election What to do on election day?

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)

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

When are the General Elections held? Why so specific? Why not the first Tuesday? Prevents Election Day from falling on a:

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

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

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

Application for Absentee Ballot

Mu st g VA LID ive a rea son …

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) ALREADY 3) Those serving in the military 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

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)

Couldn’t I vote early…? • Nearly half of the states allow voters to cast ballots over a period of several days before an election…. NOT PA

Where do I go to vote? • Your Precinct is your voting district (500 -1000 qualified voters) • Your Polling Place is the place where the voters who live in a precinct actually cast their vote

Each Precinct is supervised by an Election Board 1) Supervise the polling place 2) Makes sure the ballots, ballot boxes, voting machines are available 3) Check to be sure voters meet the qualifications 4) Count the votes and report to proper place

How do I vote? • Casting a ballot…what is that? • Def: a device by which a voter registers a choice in an election Send out sample ballots or printed in the newspaper or on the internet BUT not officially be cast

Old Way Paper based punch card voting machines (Butterfly Ballots)

Several Problems 2000 Election

Several Problems con’t Recounting the ballots by hand in certain districts Problem? • Deciphering who the person actually voted for – didn’t punch through all the way or punched between two selections Made it to the Supreme Court!

New way Touch Screen Voting • What if it breaks? Paper ballots provided so LINES ARE NOT LONG and TURN PEOPLE AWAY FROM VOTING

• No external communications pathway no risk of hacking, or gaining unauthorized entry into the tabulation system. • Pros? Touchscreens are the only system which allows a voter with a disability to cast a secret and independent vote • Issues and concerns about security of the collection and counting process (no human error) - record • Issue with receipts – think of significant costs, paper jams and malfunctioning printers, voter delays, difficulty for poll workers, and meaningless receipts

Virginia: Cons? • Malfunctioning voting machines are causing issues for voters in several Virginia precincts, the Republican Party of Virginia says. RPV wrote a letter to the Virginia Department of Elections this morning stating there were problems with some of the “Voters have difficulty electronic voting touch selecting the candidate of screens in at least four their choice using the touch screen because the different Congressional screen’s touch sensor is Districts. not properly aligned with the text that appears on the screen”

Texas: Cons? • A voting machine in Texas has Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst listed as the candidate running for governor. Problem: Dewhurst isn't running against Democrat Wendy Davis. Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott is!

Kansas: Cons? • Voters from two polling locations in Overland Park, KS reported that voting machines changed votes from Pat Roberts to Greg Orman. • A call to the Johnson County Election Office confirmed that they were aware of at least one of the reports. – They claimed that the voter was allowed to vote on another machine and the broken machine was re-calibrated and put back into service.

Connecticut: (On Election Day) • Cons? Hartford Superior Court will hear a complaint filed by Gov. Dan Malloy's campaign seeking to extend voting hours after delays, missing voter registration books and other problems that hampered voting at some Hartford polling places early Tuesday. A hearing is set for 2: 30 p. m. , according to an attorney for the Malloy campaign. If a judge decides to extend voting, all polling places in Hartford will remain open until 9 p. m. "We know that the polls, at many polling places, did not open at six o'clock as they are required to by state law, " explained attorney Jim Bergenn. Outcome: Two Hartford polling locations remained opened for half an hour to accommodate voters who were unable to vote or were discouraged from voting this morning

Other ways to cast your ballot… Vote-By-Mail gon on Ore ingt ash o W orad Col a orid Fl nois Illi They send you official ballot in mail – fill it out and send it back in a specific period of time.

BUT Controversial…Why? Threatens the principle of SECRET BALLOT! Who you vote for is your own business – no one should influence your vote Plus (mail) Voter Fraud/Lost Ballots

Other ways to cast your ballot… ? s Online Voting (NOT USED YET) ta an l u b d W o w t ha o s e e m e g v d A

Why not – seems so easy! Pilot Programs are being tested Computer scientist "Email voting is by far the least secure voting method ever devised by man. Email ballots are transmitted in the clear over the Internet. They're not even encrypted. “ - Concerned with the loss of privacy, potential miscounting, and the ease and possibility of vote tampering by foreign governments or others.

MONDAY…. Electoral College!