REVISION

Less is More

     Voter turnout already is low, so why create more implications that will only delay the process of voting and making it more difficult to vote? For some reason the Supreme Court thought it was necessary to do so, because section 5 of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 was deemed unconstitutional. Which then allowed states to pass more strict regulations. I believe that if we want our voter turn out to soar rather than sink we should quit creating complications and deplete them instead. Have you ever heard of the expression less is more? I think that if we were to establish less protocols for registration and voting itself more citizens will take the time to cast their vote.

      Having the right to vote is a great power,  a power in which Americans tend to abuse. I feel as an American we abuse the power of voting because we want everything to be done in a short period of time. Do you know anyone who enjoys sitting in line for hours to mark off a box for a candidate they barely know about? I surely don't. For example,  since the Supreme Court ruling the Florida, and a few other states have implemented SAVE (System Alien Verification for Entitlements) which removes non citizens from past voter rolls. The states used the Homeland Security database to access the immigration status of people applying for government benefits. While the government thought it was a great idea to implement SAVE, it actually disenfanchised eligible voters, and according to the Miami Herald voters flagged for verification were disproportionately Hispanic and turned out to be citizens. If I were one of the citizens who was disenfranchised I'd be very annoyed with the government and probably not want to partake in the next election because of the problems caused over SAVE. 

     Other states, such as Indiana, took the path of making registration longer. Why would anyone want  to make that of all things longer? Americans live in a world of immediate gratification. Voting should reflect the temperament of Modern Americans. Many now say that the state requires unnecessary and burdensome information. Also students who pay out-of-states-taxes are ineligible to vote even if registered in the state of Indiana. Best of all has to be that even if you thoroughly and completely finish the new registration papers it can still be declared "incomplete" due to a simple mistake made by the canvasser. My question simply is why go to such great lengths over voter registration when the government could be working on ways to ease the process and aim to increase current voter turnout rates? Instead they decided to make it longer and more complicated. 

   Voter turnout is dropping drastically due to what might seem as minor but actually sever referendums. Many states are enforcing a strict photo ID rule, and go on to state which forms of ID are accepted. In the past one could use multiple ways to show ID, but now switched over to just photo ID. If you can't afford one the state will supply you one for free. I guess that isn't to bad, but still why not just accept what was being accepted in the past? Now people without an ID have to find a place where to go and get a new one. Some people don't have the means of transportation or money for public transportation to get them where to be taken. A more efficient way would be the States taking a census of eligible voters without proper photo ID and ship them to the people, rather than make the people come to them. In the end if the Government thought of ways to completely eliminate some of these restorations will most likely have a positive effect on the voter turnout rate.

    We need Federal protocol to over run individual State protocol when it comes to elections. There should be one list of rules that apply to all states when it comes to elections. To many issues have been sprouting up over serrate states having laws that are flirting on the line of being discrimination or not. Voting is the base of everything and it needs to be recognized by the people. If there is any possibility to bring about change it all starts with voting, and we the people have the power to chose who sit in office. In these days people feel that their votes are worthless and thin its unnecessary to even cast their vote.

  Americans live in a world of immediate gratification, and voting should reflect the temperament of Modern Americans. The process should reflect around the average american and extend registration hours and make it shorter and easier for people to go through the process. But because of the country's post 9/11 mind set of "Security" has led to tighter restrictions in hope of creating a more secure nation. Also Republicans currently in office differ from republicans of my generation. The current republicans are very traditional, obsessive with security, and don't like change at all. Currently they have a lot of influence with the Government right now and are showing unwillingness to change.  Where as the Republicans in my generation still come off as conservative but are much more open to change and more willing to compromise on issues such as voting and limiting restrictions, where as the current republicans love increasing the restrictions. The Federal government puts to much time in regulating the voting process when they should be focusing on other issues such as guns, drugs, and abortion. These issues should be weighted heavier than the issue of voting. Voting should be made quick, easy, and simple to increase turnout and not worry about voting as much as the government should worry about some other, much more serious issues. Maybe if they focussed on other issues rather than just harp on one, more things might bring about probably cause and change instead of causing more problems. 

   

Tigas, Mike, and Hanging Chen. "Everything That’s Happened Since Supreme Court Ruled on Voting Rights Act." Propublica.org. September 18, 2014. Accessed September 18, 2014. http://www.propublica.org/article/voting-rights-by-state-map.

Administration, Project Vote. "Groups Call on Indiana Governor to Veto Harmful Election Bill." ProjectVote.org. Accessed September 18, 2014. http://www.projectvote.org/blog/2013/04/groups-call-on-indiana-governor-to-veto-harmful-election-bill/