First Post: Compared to other countries with free elections, voter turnout for American presidential elections is very low, and turnout for midterm elections ranks even lower. From one point of view that is not a good thing since large numbers of people, particularly the poor and the less educated vote less, and therefore very likely have less influence in the political system which leads to outcomes that are biased, and not really democratic.
From another perspective, every citizen has a choice of whether to vote or not and if they choose not to vote, that is their right and whether or not they participate is solely a matter of concern to that voter. Furthermore, people who do not want to participate may have less information, so if they do vote, their decisions will be less informed. Many countries use means such as fines for people who do not vote; lifetime registration so a person does not have to re-register every time (s)he moves or has a name change; and election day as a holiday; in attempting to increase the number of people who vote in elections. In the U.S., election laws are generally up to the states, although often implemented by the Counties.
As a result of the Pandemic, in 2020 most American states adopted measures that made it easier for voters to cast ballots, given the difficult situation. These included early voting, sending everyone mail in ballots, ballot drop boxes, and even drive by voting. This led to a significant increase in turnout. Democrats generally thought that was a good thing as greater numbers of people participated in the election, while many Republicans charged that there was significant election fraud, although at this point such charges have not been supported by evidence. Since the last election a number of Republican states, including Texas, Georgia and Arizona, have attempted to enact measures that would cut down in various ways on some of these measures.
Democrats predictably claim that these measures are attempts to bring about voter suppression, while Republicans predictably claim they are necessary to deter election fraud. What do you think? First, does it matter that the voting rate is generally so low in the U.S.? Second are the measures to cut back on the use of mail in ballots, drop boxes, early voting, etc., necessary to protect election security, or are they meant to suppress the vote of groups that would more likely vote Democratic. Whichever position you take, you should present your reasoning, and make a clear, cogent case for your position. Information you present should be cited and references should be included Cites and References for sources of information : References show all sources of information. Use MLA format, and will come after (at bottom) the two posts. References include the following information in correct order: author’s name (last name first); article title; article source (the name of publication such as magazine, journal, newspaper, etc.); issue number , pages and date. Online resources should have full url in the reference at end For example – “Doe, John. Funny Story. Newsweek. 10, 2, p12-16, June 10, 2050. (url) When you refer to an article in the body of your post you should “cite” it within the post by using the author’s name and the page number of the source from which you got the information, in parenthesis. For example: “To be or not to be …” (Shakespeare, 5).
The cite points to a reference in your reference page which contains information about the source which provided the information you are including in your paper, so you should have a reference which has Shakespeare as the author among your references. Cites are used any time you are using information from another source, not just quotes. The use of cites and references will be among the things upon which the grade will be based. See me if you have any questions. The discussion post is meant to be in your own words, but making use of appropriate sources. If most information is just copied and pasted, it would not be considered your work.
