On the eve of Tuesday’s midterm election, we already know voter turnout won’t be what it could be.
That’s because as a state — and country — we don’t do all we can to make voting a priority.
Even when we were doing cartwheels about the great voter turnout in the highly contested 2020 presidential election, it was only 66.8%. That means 77 million Americans sat the election out.
In Kansas, of those eligible to vote only 68% are registered to participate. That’s a potential 696,000 votes going to waste.
So what’s the harm?
A healthy democracy relies on the “one vote, one person” principle, ensuring that the majority rules. Otherwise, we’re letting a vocal minority have outsized power.
AT A DEBATE Tuesday evening between Secretary of State incumbent Republican Scott Schwab and his opponent, Democrat Jeanna Repass, Schwab characterized voter turnout in Kansas as “massive,” and opposed Repass’s suggestions on how to increase voter participation, including that Election Day be made a state holiday, which is gaining traction among other states.
Most countries hold elections on the weekends, when most people don’t work. Others favor Election Day as a national holiday.
In Brazil’s election on Sunday, voter participation was 80%.
Another difference is that many countries automatically register those eligible to vote, resulting in far greater participation come Election Day. In Great Britain, Canada and Germany, voter registration tops 90% of those eligible.
The United States not only puts the responsibility on individuals, but on individual states whose rules frequently differ.
In an effort to increase voter participation some states are making it part of getting a driver’s license. North Dakota avoids the issue by doing away voter registration entirely. (Wouldn’t that tie voter fraud conspiracists in knots!)
Some examples of effective measures include Minnesota and Colorado, which offer online voter registrations, as does Kansas, and the ability to register to vote on Election Day, which Kansas does not.
In Kansas, recent measures have been enacted to make voting more difficult, including the 2021 bill that restricts the ability of individuals to deliver a ballot to an election office on behalf of someone else.
Other efforts to restrict voting in Kansas include the push for ballot drop boxes to be located inside secure buildings, meaning they would be off-limits after-hours, and to eliminate the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots, requiring that none be accepted after Election Day.
State Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, a Baxter Springs Republican, is behind these measures. As vice chairman of the Federal and State Affairs Committee, Hilderbrand’s position allows him to propose election-related legislation.
ESTABLISHED democracies elsewhere routinely show us up at the ballot box.
