1. Stop Complaining to ME… Voter Behavior and Thinking

2. What do you think…?
Talk with your neighbor.. Back of the THINK ABOUT IT Paper
What are 3 reasons why people (who are eligible to vote) DO NOT VOTE?

3. First, let’s look at the % of people who do or do not vote…
Fact #1 - About 30 percent of adults are “habitual voters”
**They vote in presidential, midterm, school board elections.
**They vote even when elections are not expected to be close.
Fact #2 - About 35 percent—are registered to vote - "periodic voters"
**Generally vote in presidential elections but may not hit the polls for other elections.
Fact #3 - About 35 percent of adults aren't registered to vote – so they don’t vote

4. Why Don’t People Vote?
Predict
ion

5. Let’s take a look at one way…
Younger gen. Issues and current events
Easy of registering – making aware
Easier voting (app or online)
Gov’t grab people off street
Sign for DL or Draft – sign up to vote
Reward/benefit (lollipop, cupcake)
More interesting commercials
More voting locations
Before buy lottery ticket – register to vote
Make it a holiday – no work (go vote)
How to get people (especially young people) interested in voting? Maybe we need celebrities…
Let’s take a look at one way…
What do you think?
Is this going to work?
Writing Prompt
#1 and #2
84% said YES

6. Maybe though…not everyone should vote…

7. Or…maybe we should be like Australia…
Australia Voter Turnout %
Registering to vote and going to the polls are legal duties in Australia for citizens aged 18 and over, and failing to do so can result in a fine ($18) and potentially a day in court.
65% in the UK's 2010 general election
57% in the 2012 US presidential election.
ONLY 25% said YES, WE SHOULD – GOOD IDEA
Writing Prompt #3

8. Now…if you wanted to fight this without getting fined, what might you do as a voter?
Increase in recent years of what Australians call informal or spoiled ballots –
voters either mistakenly or intentionally submit a ballot that is blank or improperly filled in, which cannot be counted in the final tally.
Count for around 6% of the total votes cast
Taken together with the number of eligible voters who fail to register, the actual percentage for voter turnout in Australia's federal elections hovers in the low 80s

9. Procedural - AGE Must be 18 The 26th Amendment
"The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age”

10. Procedural - Residence
Resident Aliens - NOPE
Def: A foreigner who is a permanent resident of the country in which he or she resides but does not have citizenship
No to Illegal Aliens as well
The reason for that is to protect America from being subverted from within by other countries
However…how do the American people feel?
Why?

11. Dealing with Illegal Immigration and voting…

12. Early on…lead the nation in Illegal Immigrant ID Cards
Dealing with Illegal Immigration and voting…
Early on…lead the nation in Illegal Immigrant ID Cards
- open bank accounts, sign apartment leases and access other services where a photo ID is required.
[At National Level – no]…But at the local level, all residents are already "citizens" in the sense that one definition of citizen is "an inhabitant of a city or town." Immigrants should not have to wait until they're naturalized to be able to vote for the school board or the city council, which have important effects on their lives ~Law professor

13. Procedural - (Absentee Ballot)
ILL or Physically Disabled
If unable to leave the house, they would have needed to apply for an Absentee ballot, but if it happened suddenly (day before election…couldn’t go)

14. Procedural- (Absentee Ballot)
Expect to be Out of Town – college, business trip
Could happen suddenly
If unexpectedly called away, they would not have time to apply for an Absentee ballot

15. Procedural- (Absentee Ballot)
Those serving in the military

16. Procedural – Adults in Prison
Can’t vote - Why?
Govt reason - They have proven themselves unfit to make one of life's most important decisions: choosing the nation's leaders.
"If you aren't willing to follow the law, you can't claim the right to make the law for everyone else.“

17. Here in Pennsylvania…
Some states - Maine and Vermont allowed jailed felons to vote

18. A few years ago, PA stipulated that you had to be out of jail for at least 5 years (9 million voters) before you were able to vote again
HOWEVER courts ruled this UNCONSTITUTIONAL

19. Procedural – Mentally Ill
If you are declared by professionals to be mentally incompetent, you are barred from voting in some states
Let’s look at PA 
490,000 citizens are diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's.
Another 350,000 citizens are mentally handicap.
“Some of them don't understand the basics of how voting works -- for instance, that the person with the most votes wins” -- said Dr. Jason Karlawish, an associate professor with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics
PA  No statute or provision disqualifying a person with mental illness from voting.
PA population million

20. Procedural Cumbersome (Election Procedures)
Such as… registration, showing ID, Voting in a specific location

21. Voter ID (US Citizens)… hot topic…old Poll Taxes?
IF YOU DON’T REQUIRE A PHOTO ID - makes it easy for people to vote more than once or under names not their own, inviting fraud that compromises the integrity of elections.
*If one must have an ID to drive, rent a hotel room, or buy alcohol, they argue, requiring it to vote is reasonable.
Critics of voter ID laws say that the threat of voter fraud is wildly exaggerated and that such requirements disenfranchise certain communities

22. Who are they?

23. Why wouldn’t you have Photo ID?
To get Photo ID – need your birth certificate
To get a Birth Certificate – need your Photo ID

27. PA TRIED– 2012 – Gov. Corbett signed Voter ID Law
A Pennsylvania judge in January (2014) struck down the law requiring voters in the state to show photo identification at the polls
“the requirement imposed ‘unreasonable burden’ on voters”
Corbett  Will not take it to the next level
Who challenged the law? –
Civil (NAACP) and voters' rights groups (ACLU)
1 million registered voters, or about 12.7 percent of the state’s registered voters, lacked valid identification to cast ballots under the new law.

28. So…what does that mean for PA…?
Will continue with its current voter verification process:
A voter's signature is compared to a signature on file

29. The Candidates
It is more common in state and local elections to have a lower voter turnout
*suffer from BALLOT FATIGUE
- def: the further down the ballot an office is, the fewer number of votes will be cast

30. The Candidates - SATISFIED WITH WHOEVER
They are satisfied with the political world as they see it – No matter who wins the election, things will continue to go well for them

31. The Candidates DISTRUST THE SYSTEM
Distrust politicians and politics – That government by the people has been taken over by: greedy politicians, powerful special interest groups, and the media

32. The Candidates No One They Like
They just don’t like the candidates, their issues, their morals, etc… .

33. The Candidates Lack of Interest
Most often they do not know the simplest factors about the candidates and issues
Question?
Is it wrong NOT TO VOTE because you don’t know the facts?
Vote or Die (DVD)

34. Personal Reasons Oops… Forgetting to vote
A common explanation – just get too busy dealing with other things

35. Personal Reasons – Religious Beliefs
They believe that acts such as voting are idolatry (def: worship of any image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic deity)
Jehovah’s Witness, Anabaptists, Hutterines, Mennonites, German Baptists, Dunkwards, Moravians, Separatists, Congregationalists, The Amish, and certain other types of Baptists

36. Personal Reasons – NO REAL DIFFERENCE
They are convinced that it makes no real difference so they choose not to go to the polls
Electoral College
picks President
anyway!

37. Personal Reasons
No Transportation to or from polling place

38. Personal Reasons LONG LINES and deal with CROWDS
Polls open and close at certain times
Can you get time off of work?
What if you work a hr. shift?
Average wait time?
Nation (2012)?
Michigan voters spent an average of minutes waiting
National rate of 11.9 minutes

39. Personal Reasons Time Zone Fallout
East Coast Polls close however West Coast is still OPEN…Media projects winner

40. Other Personal Reasons…

41. The Administration of Election What to do on election day?

42. When are the General Elections (big deal ones) held?
In NOVEMBER –
Tuesday-after-the-first-Monday
Primaries
State law establishes the date for the primary election
Ex: PA  May 20, 2014
PA  May 19, 2015 (Municipal)

43. When are the General Elections held?
Why so specific?
Why not just pick a specific date?
Prevents Election Day
from falling on a:
Sunday

44. When are the General Elections held?
Why so specific?
Prevents Election Day from falling on a:
Why not the first Tuesday?
First day of the month
(for some - $$ day)

45. Oops – I have to register
Paper Way  post office Or
Online  *Still have to send it in the mail

46. Oops – I have to register
Online  *Still have to send it in the mail (PRINT OFF)

47. What if I won’t be around to vote?
Most states make provisions for absentee voting
Def: voting by those unable to get to their regular polling places on election day

48. Application for Absentee Ballot

49. Must give a
VALID reason…

50. 3 groups who can apply 1) those too ill or disabled to make it out
2) those who expect to be out of town (business trip, college, vacation)
3) Those serving in the military
ALREADY WROTE DOWN YESTERDAY
Have to apply for an absentee ballot within a specific period of time, mark the ballot, seal it, and return it to the proper local election official

51. VOTING IS NOT ALWAYS PERFECT
Can you spot the oops?
300 Absentee ballots with the gaffe were mailed out to voters in Rensselaer County, NY
- once caught – 3700 were destroyed and new ones mail out)

52. Couldn’t I vote early…?
Nearly half of the states allow voters to cast ballots over a period of several days before an election….NOT PA

53. Where do I go to vote?
Your Precinct is your voting district ( qualified voters)
Your Polling Place
is the place where the
voters who live in a
precinct actually cast
their vote

54. Each Precinct is supervised by an Election Board
Supervise the polling place
Makes sure the ballots, ballot boxes, voting machines are available
Check to be sure voters meet the qualifications
Count the votes and
report to proper place

55. How do I vote? Casting a ballot…what is that?
Def: a device by which a voter registers a choice in an election
Send out sample
ballots or printed in
the newspaper or
on the internet
BUT not officially
be cast

56. Old Way  Paper based punch card voting machines (Butterfly Ballots)

57. Several Problems 2000 Election

58. Several Problems con’t
Recounting the ballots by hand in certain districts
Problem?
Deciphering who the person actually voted for – didn’t punch through all the way or punched between two selections
Made it to the Supreme Court!

59. New way Touch Screen Voting
What if it breaks?
Paper ballots provided so LINES ARE NOT LONG and TURN PEOPLE AWAY FROM VOTING

60. No external communications pathway no risk of hacking, or gaining unauthorized entry into the tabulation system.
Touchscreens are the only system which allows a voter with a disability to cast a secret and independent vote
Issues and concerns about security of the collection and counting process (no human error) - record
Issue with receipts – think of significant costs, paper jams and malfunctioning printers, voter delays, difficulty for poll workers, and meaningless receipts
Pros?

61. Virginia:
Malfunctioning voting machines are causing issues for voters in several Virginia precincts, the Republican Party of Virginia says. RPV wrote a letter to the Virginia Department of Elections this morning stating there were problems with some of the electronic voting touch screens in at least four different Congressional Districts.
Cons?
“Voters have difficulty selecting the candidate of their choice using the touch screen because the screen’s touch sensor is not properly aligned with the text that appears on the screen”

62.  Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott is!
Texas:
A voting machine in Texas has Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst listed as the candidate running for governor.
Cons?
Problem:
Dewhurst isn't running against Democrat Wendy Davis.
 Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott is!

63. Kansas:
Voters from two polling locations in Overland Park, KS reported that voting machines changed votes from Pat Roberts to Greg Orman.
A call to the Johnson County Election Office confirmed that they were aware of at least one of the reports.
They claimed that the voter was allowed to vote on another machine and the broken machine was re-calibrated and put back into service.
Cons?

64. Connecticut: (On Election Day)
Cons?
Connecticut: (On Election Day)
Hartford Superior Court will hear a complaint filed by Gov. Dan Malloy's campaign seeking to extend voting hours after delays, missing voter registration books and other problems that hampered voting at some Hartford polling places early Tuesday. A hearing is set for 2:30 p.m., according to an attorney for the Malloy campaign. If a judge decides to extend voting, all polling places in Hartford will remain open until 9 p.m. "We know that the polls, at many polling places, did not open at six o'clock as they are required to by state law," explained attorney Jim Bergenn.
Outcome: Two Hartford polling locations remained opened for half an hour to accommodate voters who were unable to vote or were discouraged from voting this morning

65. Other ways to cast your ballot…
Vote-By-Mail
They send you official ballot in mail – fill it out and send it back in a specific period of time.
Oregon
Washington Colorado
Florida
Illinois

66. BUT Controversial…Why?
Threatens the principle of SECRET BALLOT! Who you vote for is your own business – no one should influence your vote Plus (mail) Voter Fraud/Lost Ballots

67. Other ways to cast your ballot…
Online Voting (NOT USED YET)
What would be some Advantages?

68. Pilot Programs are being tested
Why not – seems so easy!
Problems with
online– What
do you think?
Pilot Programs are being tested
Computer scientist
" voting is by far the least secure voting method ever devised by man. ballots are transmitted in the clear over the Internet. They're not even encrypted.“
- Concerned with the loss of privacy, potential miscounting, and the ease and possibility of vote tampering by foreign governments or others.

69. MONDAY….Electoral College!