Polls vs. Elections
We are bombarded with polls. Each one usually spun to make each side happy or at least less sad and the side which isn't winning question if the poll was biased. It seems often polls are predictors to the election but sometimes the polls are totally off. Why? Often it isn't the poll but the turnout on election day.
I don't understand why every American doesn't vote but we often have elections which have less than 50% turnout. In some originations that isn't enough for a quorum and the vote can't be held, but we will accept allowing 25-40% to make the decision for everyone by not voting.
Voting should be easy, yet we have those who want to make it hard, adding I.D. requirements, just one day to vote, limited voting hours (is 12 hours enough in a 24 hour world), polling places which are not able to handle the turnout for the area (it shouldn't take 2 hours to vote), complicated ballots, some voting machines not friendly for the elderly or those with special needs, voting machine which don't have paper back-up or just simply hard to use.
How could we make voting easier?
If it were easier to vote would more people vote?
Is it time to consider on-line voting as an option?
Should we ever consider a requirement to vote?
Since we are allowing a small part of the electorate to "represent" the total electorate, should we go to a sampling system similar to the polls taken today except much larger,conducted by the same government office which conducts the election (not the media) and reviewed by an election commission just as our elections?
I don't know the answers. I just know it can be frustrating to see 37% of the people to make the decision for 100% of the people.
Any and all comments are welcomed.
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