Voter apathy: How do we convince people voting matters?

[prolesunited]

In the 2000 elections, only 67.5% of the voting age public was even registered to vote and 51.3% actually showed up to vote.

I'm sure all of you are running into the same problems as you make the rounds registering voters and drumming up votes for Kerry. People say there's no difference between parties or they don't like either candidate. Some argue there's no point to voting.

So, I thought we could help each other out by sharing our best strategies and best arguments here.

I see DU as an excellent think tank, so why not capitalize on that pool our ideas. I can't even count how many times I've used arguments and talking points that I read here in my political discussions.

So, what's YOUR approach to combatting voter apathy?


Interesting Census data on voter demographics can be found here:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting.html

Great election stat links here:
http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/guides/social/election.html

State voter registration deadlines:
http://www.fec.gov/votregis/state_voter_reg_deadlines02.htm

[cthrumatrix]

1. people are more pissed than ever...they saw how their vote counts

just ask them if thye want 4 more yrs of this shit

[prolesunited]

5. Actually, I have had more people

pointing to Florida as evidence that their vote does NOT count. Also, people who have been paying attention say it won't matter because of the BBV issue.

What arguments would be effective with them?

[porphyrian]

8. Tell them to use absentee ballots...

...or whatever they are called in their state. Those ballots do have a paper trail, and it avoids the whole BBV issue.

[bryant69]

2. The distinction

We need to focus on the differences between the two parties. I think one of the things that keeps people home is the belief that the Republicans and the Democrats are basically the same kind of crap. That works for Republicans; low voter turnout usually favors them. But it hurts us.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[prolesunited]

3. Good point

on why they use that argument to suppress voter turn-out.

So, if you were bottom lining the differences between the parties, what are some specific points you would make?

[H2O Man]

4. Great idea. Thanks for starting this.

I'm going back out this week, with some friends from where I used to work. This is a group of about eight mental health professionals.Psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric social workers. And we tend to go into low-income neighborhoods.

I often use one of Malcolm's teachings on DU: you have to speak the language the person who you are trying to talk to speaks in order to communicate. Can't speak German to someone who speaks a Chinese dialect. So, when we go into a low-income neighborhood, we have to speak to their values. Not ours, except to the extent that we have values in common.

How does the election potentially effect their daily lives? How will the war in the Middle East impact their family? A draft? How about a gallon of gas, or of milk? Budget cuts?

The single most important thing is being a good listener. You don't empower people by simply speaking to them. You need to listen. That is what matters the most : them knowing someone is listening to their opinion.

[Professor_Moriarty]

6. Let us come up with some numbers that show how the tax cuts that

Bush and the Republicans put in place could have been used to produce jobs.We need to show how many jobs and what kind of jobs( with benefits).We also need to show how those tax cuts could have been used to provide prescription drug benefits to the elderly and financial aid for students.IF we can put some hard numbers like this we will be able to show how Bush is misusing our tax money to benefit the rich.While we are at it, we can also show that the tax cuts that he touted as generating investment by the rich, have not materialized.
Now that he has run up a budget deficit close to 500 Billion Dollars, we should also show how it is going to result in increased interest rates and once again depress what little investment his tax cuts were going to produce.Each and every one of these p[oints should be put in terms of number of jobs, preferably on a state by state basis and the cutbacks in services that we already see.

[MadHound]

7. We need to have a clear delineation between the two parties,

And give these non-voters a vested interest in voting for Kerry and the Democrats. Sad to say, this isn't going to happen while the Democratic leadership is more interested in pandering to big business rather than the American people.

Most of these non-voters see little difference between the two parties, and for good reason. Both are putting the interests of big business above the interests of people, both are going to continue the war in Iraq for an indefinite period of time, both are stripping away our rights at an alarming rate, and both are moving ever further rightward. The moderator of the second Gore/Bush debate in '00 asked the pertinent question after listening to those two agree on virtually everything, "So just what is the differences between you two?" Millions of people across the country are still waiting for an answer to that question.

The Democratic party needs to seriously differentiate itself from the Republicans, and one way it could do this is by coming out strongly for a couple of issues that would make a vast difference in ordinary peoples' live. Say Universal Health Care, or a living wage. These would not only clearly define the differences between the two, but it would also give these people a vested interest in voting Democratic.

But as it is, these folks are jaded and cynical, and see little difference between the two parties, and quite frankly I see where they're coming from. The Democratic party needs to swing back to the left, back to it's roots, and clearly and consisely define itself as seperate and differenct from the Republicans. Otherwise, more and more people are going to drop out of voting. After all, why should one bother to vote when either way you vote simply upholds the two party/same corporate master system of government?

[prolesunited]

9. Seems to me you're arguing that there fundmentally

is no difference. Although that is not a BIG enough difference and Dems have backed off on some of their populist appeals, that to me is not a reason to drop out.

Could you not argue that by being involved and voting and making our voices heard will allow us to reclaim our party.

Staying home and not voting does nothing and just lets them continue on their merry way.

I think we miss a strategic opportunity to change the tide from the top down. You know where the Christian right and neo-cons started: school boards. They built their machine from the ground up. Why can't we stay involved and do the same thing?

You can't change the system when you're not a part of it.

[MadHound]

10. Well, I still vote friend, but I find myself going increasingly 3rd party

Because more and more, there is no real fundemental difference between the two majors. Both are in favor of NAFTA, both are for continuing the war for some indefinite time, both are for the continued crackdown on civil rights, both are opposed to gay marriage, both are for continuing the failed War on Drugs, both are in favor of corporate tax cuts, and on and on and ever, miserable on.

Quite frankly, the only substantial differences I see between the two, and the only reasons I'm voting for Kerry, are the Supreme Court justices to be appointed, and that I believe that Kerry is less likely than Bush to extend the war to Iran, Syria, or the rest of the ME. Otherwise, yes, there is little difference between the two, and what little there is is more of style over substance, the Republican's bad cop as opposed to the Dem's good cop. This is much the same situation we faced as a nation during the First Gilded Age, when robber barons were the defacto rulers, and politicians of both parties bowed before the god of Big Business. This same appalling prospect we face again today, in this, the Second Gilded Age. Let us hope we don't end this period the same way we wound up the first time, in a Great Depression.

This is why so many people don't vote, for they see little or no difference between the parties or candidates. Both are perceived(rightly so) as being in the pocket of Big Business, and no matter who is elected, Big Biz always gets taken care of first, with the rest of us getting the crumbs. Many many of these same people were one time very active in politics, yet after years and decades of beating their heads against the wall, with matters only getting worse, they gave up and dropped out. It was easier on their soul and reduced their frustration level. I can see their point, and can't say I blame them.

Yet these people can be reawakened if they see a prospect for real meaningful change in their lives. This was one of the great successes of the Nader campaign in '00. The energized these people again, and got them to come out and work and vote for Nader, for the people saw the promise of real change in their lives. If we want to get these people turning out for the Dems, we have to do the same thing, energize them, give them a reason to come out to the polls. Otherwise, they will stay home.

[prolesunited]

11. The problem is that we are NOT set up

as a multi-party system, as much as I wish that were different. Why not work within the Democratic Party to build a strong progressive wing?

As we saw with the Dean campaign (whether you liked him or not), with the Internet and people standing up, we have both the tools and abilities to organize for change and demand to be heard.

I argue that you can't do that by NOT playing within the system.

As far as Nader goes, he lost all credibility with me when he started accepting cash and volunteer support from the GOP.

[MadHound]

12. The trouble with that friend

Is that the Democratic party has become so corrupted, so morally bankrupt by the massive influx of corporate cash that it is unable to be reformed, either from without or within. Trust me, many of us have tried, many are still trying, yet instead the party whores itself out even more. Better to let it go and collapse of its own dead weight, thus we can build up a new party from scratch.

You rightly cite the Dean campaign as a new model for raising cash, and I agree. But being as that Dean and his followers are subject to the whims and dictates of the Democratic party leadership, who are in turn ruled by their corporate masters, any change that Dean and his followers want to make is quickly vetoed by the old line corporate whores in the Democratic leadership. I expect his fundraising model to be fully implemented by various third parties, but as long as he remains within the rubric of the Democratic party, any change he wishes to make will be quickly axed by the party leadership. After all, his millions of dollars raised is trumped by the hundreds of millions doled out by corporate America.

And I agree with you about Nader. I supported him during '00(though I voted Gore), since at the time he was running on the Green ticket. However my loyalty is to the Green party, not Nader. Though I think he has every right to run this year, his closeness with the Republican party seriously damages his credibility.

Yes, we live under a two party system of government. However that doesn't mean that one of those parties has to be Democratic. Other major parties have been thrown onto the dustbin of history when they've become irrelevant, I think that if the Democratic party continues on their current course, they too will suffer the same fate.

[prolesunited]

14. I really agree with you

more than I disagree, but I truly fear that we will soon be living under a one-party, fascist state if Bush gets another four years given their present trajectory.

By voting third party at the national level, we enable this to happen.

It's hard enough to organize now. Look at the threats and intimidation they have going on now. It will only get worse. There is just too much at stake.

Why can't change percolate up from the local level?

[proud patriot]

13. This is what I say if they refuse after some polite encouragement

"People died for you to have the write to vote ,
it dishonors all who have fought and died for freedom
by refusing to vote"

[prolesunited]

15. Any more stories

from people in the trenches? I really was hoping that this could be a more productive thread.

[H2O Man]

16. Actually, it can be.

We've seen a tendency for people to talk about what is important to them. This will rarely, if ever, help convince the unregistered to register. The discussion needs to be about how you can be an agent of change: currently, about half the eligible voters do not see enough of a connection between their daily lives and the voting booth.

There is a wonderful scene in the movie Gandhi, that has the added bonus of being true. The Mahatma is at the Indian National Congress, where people are making wonderful speeches, filled with clever debating points, about what is important to them. Mohondas gets up, and says that what is important to them is of little significance to the masses, who are more concerned with their daily bread.

We can have fun debating issues on DU. It's a good thing to do. But it doesn't make a bit of difference if we are not out with the masses. And our job isn't to go out to preach to them -- it's to help them connect the November election with their daily bread.

[AntiFascist]

17. Scare the shit out of younger voters.....

Show them that the true agenda of PNAC is to increase our war efforts and that, if Bush is reelected,we will need to reinstitute a draft. PNAC would like nothing more than there to be another attack on the U.S. so that then we can move into Iran. If North Korea starts getting cocky with nuclear weapons, all the better for them!

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

18. Talk to young people about their rights

Remember, the youth of today have grown up in the most stratified and authoritarian America that ever was.

They have to be taught that they are allowed to vote, and their vote counts as much as a cop's or a rich person's. The schools aren't teaching this anymore.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

19. The homeless can swing the election

Every night, there are at least half a million homeless people on the streets in America.

The recently homeless and formerly homeless add up to at least ten times that number.

The poorest people in America can actually decide who the leader is. But how do we convince them to vote?

[LisaL]

20. Are they even allowed to vote?

Aren't you suppose to have an address to register?
Homeless don't have an address, how are they going to vote?

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

21. Homeless voting

The currently homeless can register. Many maintain p.o. boxes. In my mostly rural county you can fill in a "description of where you live" since many don't have formal addresses.

The formerly homeless outnumber the currently homeless by about 10 to 1, some are felons who have been stripped of their voting rights, but most of them are just apathetic or uninformed and don't vote.

[prolesunited]

22. You're right

Here's some more info in case anyone was interested in doing a drive in their area.

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/vote2004/index.html


Here's an award-winning essay on the subject

POOR, HOMELESS
BUT WE HAVE A VOICE, WE HAVE A VOTE

Low-income means living on the edge. My apartment rent creeps steadily upward while my name has stagnated on the waiting list for Section 8 housing over the last three years. A crisis and I could end up on the streets again. I’ve been there. It was traumatic and frightening. Daily countless others find themselves in similar devastating circumstances as the gap grows between those who have their basic human needs met and those who do not. In the 2004 elections, we have an opportunity to turn the tide with out votes.

<snip>
For many years, I didn’t vote. I can’t say that my one vote would have made a difference in any particular political race. The fact remains, however, that I didn’t take advantage of the one tool most readily available to me in making my voice heard by my government. For the last twenty years, I continue to live on the edge, but I vote, even when the odds are against the candidate of my choice, even when it feels pointless. Because I am poor, I sometimes feels as if nothing I have to say or can do is of any consequence in this society. For that reason alone, it is imperative that I vote, for when I vote, I choose hope over despair. When I vote, I am active instead of passive. We need to participate in the political process. Politics in and of itself is not a bad thing. It is the way we order ourselves as a society. We must elect politicians willing to work towards and equitable distribution of resources.


Vote – neither you nor I can change the system alone. Together we can!

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/vote2004/essay.html