Professor Altschuler’s discussion of the upcoming midterm election was a talk that I would love to hear in more depth. As I had not been following the election at all, I signed up because I was interested in hearing how an informed professional was thinking about current political candidates. Professor Altschuler emphasized how this upcoming election was extremely important for the United States, and that it will be essential for the young voter (like us) to have our voices heard. I was surprised to hear that the young voter (29 and under) turnout rate is approximately 20%, especially with recent technological developments that have made information collection significantly easier.
Through the talk, I got a better context of the election as a whole.
1. Gerrymandering influences election outcomes in how the dominant party pulls district lines to fit their needs (during every census).
2. There are more democrats than republicans, so a higher voter turnout would entail an automatic advantage for the democrats. However, less democrats actually go to the polls.
3. Democrats are located in more urban areas, while Republicans tend to live in rural areas. This gives the Republicans an advantage in elections because they are more spread out across the nation.
4. Political polarization is problematic, and less extreme candidates are often dropped in the primaries by extremist voters.
From professor Altschuler’s talk I am now convinced that I need to make my voice heard by voting in the upcoming elections. Even though one vote may not seem like much, one vote can truly make a difference in the outcome of an election if many non-voters begin to feel the same way. I believe that the younger generation is less interested in politics because they believe that they cannot make a difference in the larger spectrum of events. These talks can change the younger generation’s perception on making a difference in this world, that small things like voting mean much more than they seem.
For future Rose Cafe events, I would like similar talks like these to become more informed of current events and about our world today. This event truly made my day!
I would be interested to know what Prof. Altschuler would suggest to encourage more people to vote. I know some countries have mandatory voting, but I don’t think people in the US would like that very much. Maybe you could fine people for not voting, but that would be deeply unpopular too. Probably the best solutions are online voting or at least mail-in voting, but you have election hacking and fraud problems with those methods. Mail-in voting is probably okay though since absentee ballots are already mailed in and considered fair, so I think mail-in voting should be adopted to increase turnout.