May 7th was the French election and Emmanuel Macron won by a 30 point margin against Marie Le Pen. What is interesting about the French election is their turn out. Why? French had a 75% voter turnout in their election, and in 2015 Austria had a 74% turnout, the U.S. hovers around 40% if that for voter turnout. Former President Obama stated “we are the freest nation, yet we have the lowest turnout.” How and why does the greatest country have low voter turnout? With all the efforts put into outreach, the issues and what we are currently witnessing with illegitimate President Trump the U.S. continues to remain at the bottom when it comes to voting. Notably, in other industrialized countries, the youth participation rate is higher in politics and the citizens are more cognizant and engaged in the political process than America, which makes them smarter voters and have high voter turn out.
“Legitimate President Obama endorses Macron and he wins.”
With high voter turnout it is likely the right candidates will win and France illustrated this by voting for Emmanuel Macron. Side Bar: The horrors of pricktator president Trump, it is a good reason to have 75% voter turnout. According to the pew research “Looking at the most recent nationwide election in each of the 35 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) member nations, the U.S. placed 28th.” To have a ranking of 28th when it comes to elections is disappointing, there is constant disdain for elected officials not doing their jobs, yet citizens do not turn out to vote and elect better people to do the job. Additionally, with the unfortunate election of pricktator Donald Trump and the events taken place, America has to find the right formula in order to have their citizens vote. It is difficult to witness other industrialized nations have higher voter turnout and America does not.
“We are the freest nation, yet we have the lowest turnout.” President Obama
A concrete reason why other industrialized nation have higher voter turnout, the citizens are more cognizant of the politics and issues in their country. More citizens in the nations with higher voter turnout actively participate in their elections and have a better understanding of politics. Furthermore, notice the many issues America continues to fight over, universal health care, climate change, pay leave, free tuition, many of the nations with high voter turnout have achieved having these issues implemented in their country. It seems if America had higher voter turnout, we can achieve a lot and not constantly have the same fights over the same issues. Another reason is that citizens of different countries are smarter voters, they know the issues very well and know who the candidates are very well. Voters in other countries take the time to do their research and learn about the candidates and issues before for voting i.e. being a smarter voter.
“Side Bar: The horrors of pricktator president Trump is a good reason why to have 75% voter turnout.”
Currently, with pricktator president Trump and a dismal Congress, voter turnout is critical to the survival of America. It is difficult to understand why Americans do not vote and are not actively engaged like other citizens in various nations. The election of Donald Trump along with the actions of Congress and his cabinet members should be alarming and motivate people to polls at every level of elections.
Sources:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/15/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/07/world/europe/france-election-results-maps.html?_r=1