Focus on the mid-term elections, now less than two months away, is heating up. As always, the Left erroneously claims that the Right seeks to suppress the number of people who can and may vote, rather than expand the number. The Right correctly reports that the Left – that ‘big tent’ party – seeks to contort the voting process by allowing everyone, legal, illegal, registered, or not registered, to vote. In any case, Democrats are hell-bent on perpetually skewing election results on the local, state, and federal level.
After the smoke has cleared, only two ways exist to increase voter participation, assuming, of course, that we’re talking about valid, registered, U.S. citizens who have a legal right to vote in the U.S. The first and best way to increase voter participation is by maintaining or restoring public confidence in the voting process. The second and worst way is by forcing people to participate.
Public Confidence Matters
Long before the internet, television, and the largely Left-wing mass media conglomerates that rule the airwaves, a large percentage of U.S. citizens routinely voted. From 1850 to 1900, in ‘pre-mass media’ America, the participation rate of the voting-age population hovered above an astounding 77 percent.
Contrast that percentage with what has transpired in the 21st century. Since 2000, the participation rate has averaged below 56 percent, a drop of more than 20 percent. One can postulate as to why the participation rate has tanked. Seeking to thrive in our fast-paced culture, some voters will regard themselves as “too busy.” Or, people might rationalize that, “My vote isn’t really going to matter.” Some who are qualified to vote haven’t paid attention to the candidates or the issues. Others regard the system as rigged. In their view, “Why bother?"
A handful of nations have extraordinary voter participation rates. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has 100 percent participation in election after election. Amazing, isn’t it? In Cuba, over the span of six national elections, the participation rate hovered above 89 percent. Within free societies, such percentages are tough to beat!
Voter I.D. is a Must
Restoring public confidence can be achieved by eliminating fraud-friendly loopholes in election law. In true democracies, participation rates rise noticeably in elections that require voter I.D. This finding might be surprising to many people, but it has been proven time and time again.
States that enact effective voter I.D. legislation experience increases in participation rates among all population groups, predictably so. As public trust in the voting process rises, the number of individuals who decide to get off of their duffs, register, and vote, rises as well.
When Indiana enacted effective voter I.D. legislation, black voter participation actually rose, based on research from John Fund, national-affairs reporter and columnist for National Review Online and senior editor at The American Spectator. In his book, Stealing Elections, he observed that states with strict voter I.D. laws can witness greater black voter participation rates than even white voter participation rates.
When pundits and politicians seek to disparage the value of voter I.D., however, some legitimate voters tune out of the process altogether. Jay DeLancy, head of the Voter Integrity Project of NC, told me, “A political cabal, so out of touch with reality that they cannot promote honest elections, discredits our entire democracy, and drives down participation accordingly.”
To raise legitimate voter participation rates, leaders must strive to restore public trust in the process. Most people understand the need for valid I.D. in nearly every walk of life, and they support voter I.D. Funny how that is at odds with dishonest politicians, all of whom seem to be members of one particular political party. Oddly, Zohran Mamdani will control who can shop in his five government-run supermarkets by issuing NYC residency I.D. Oh, the irony!
Should Every Citizen Vote?
With good reason, some experts argue that inducing individuals to cast a vote when they don’t understand the ramifications makes no sense and doesn’t strengthen democracy. When parties on the Left or Right, or Green or Libertarian, induce otherwise reticent and perhaps under-informed citizens to vote, is the nation served well?
In general, yes, greater voter participation among actual citizens is good for the country and for democracy. Greater voter participation works best, however, when such voters are alert, aware, informed, and self-motivated to vote.