An Engaged Electorate

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/opinion/sunday/an-engaged-electorate.html

Version 0 of 1.

Readers offer their ideas for increasing voter participation.

To the Editor:

Although the Republican Party has spent enormous energy on stopping an infinitesimal number of ineligible voters, I believe that our democracy is in far greater peril from its efforts to make it harder to vote.

The Brennan Center for Justice has identified 14 states that have passed laws limiting voting rights in 2016, including the implementation of voter ID laws, reduced voting hours and making it harder to register to vote. The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision that struck down key parts of the Voting Rights Act made it easier for states to set up barriers to voting.

Our elected officials need to enact changes to our voting process to ensure that the voices of all Americans are heard.

First, there should be an explicit constitutional right to vote.

Second, eligible voters should be automatically registered upon turning 18 or becoming a citizen.

Third, Election Day should be a full weekend.

These are not new ideas and I am certainly not the first to suggest them, but this political season has shown the extreme urgency of these proposals.

My mother, who immigrated to the United States as a young woman from Morocco, cherished May 8, the anniversary of the day she became a citizen and was able to vote. Let’s remove the budgetary, judicial and legislative barriers in order to allow more people like my mother to have a voice in our nation’s business.

These actions would help increase our voter participation rate — which averages about 60 percent in presidential elections and much lower in other years — from our shameful current rank of 31st out of the 35 most developed countries.

In addition, it is past time for Congress to make an essential investment in our democracy by allocating additional federal funds for modern, secure and reliable voting systems at every polling place in order to ensure free and fair elections.

EDWIN ANDREWS

Malden, Mass.

The writer is administrative director of the MGH Clinical Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.

I heartily agree with Edwin Andrews’s premise that there is peril in the efforts of some (especially Republicans) to suppress voter participation. And I mostly agree with his three stated changes to our system to support more participation: an explicit constitutional right, automatic registration upon turning 18, and a full weekend to vote. However, his discussion brought to mind something that has bothered me for a long time. And that is the appalling ignorance of so many Americans. A more informed electorate would be less likely to swallow lies and false promises.

Like Mr. Andrews’s mother, my husband is a naturalized citizen. Three years ago, when I was helping him study for his citizenship test, I realized that he was going to know more about how our government works than most high school and college graduates who were born here. So, let me be the devil’s advocate. Eighteen-year-olds should not “automatically” be registered. Perhaps they should have to pass a simple civics test, like the one for naturalization. The test could be taken as many times as necessary to pass — the idea isn’t to impede but rather to educate. Yes, we need more voters, but, just as important, we need better informed voters. If more of our citizens had as good an understanding of basic civics as my foreign-born husband, our candidates might be held to a higher standard.

DAPHNE CASE

Norwalk, Conn.

If we really believe in the importance of voting to democracy — and are not merely paying lip service to look politically correct — why shouldn’t voting become a mandatory responsibility of American citizenship, just as jury duty, paying taxes, having health insurance, obeying a police officer, attending school and registering with the Selective Service are? When upward of 95 percent of the eligible population is participating in the electoral process, government becomes more responsive to the citizenry and less reactive to special interests.

GODFREY HARRIS

Los Angeles

Here are a few more ideas to ensure that the voices of all Americans are heard:

1) Let felons — even incarcerated felons — vote. Felons are citizens, too, and to the extent we can bring them back into civil society, we should. Voting should be an expectation of citizenship, not a privilege for the worthy.

2) Sync elections. Four-year terms should all be voted on in the presidential cycle. Two-year terms should all be voted on in the congressional cycle. No off-cycle elections unless there’s a darn good reason.

3) Pay a $25 bonus for voting. Preferably a check in the mail, but it could be a tax credit. Everyone loves to be paid for his or her time, and this is a very modest way to drive turnout much higher.

4) Along with automatic registration upon turning 18, give everyone a national photo ID. Let people vote with it where they live on Election Day, and update the address at the polling place. Upload the data after the election and investigate any double-voting. Prosecute anyone who lies about his or her residence.

5) Vote by mail, Oregon-style. It’s working great there.

JOHN LANGMAID

Glastonbury, Conn.

Voting in free and fair elections is neither necessary nor sufficient to democracy. Elections are one mechanism by which citizens consent to the exercise of power by their representatives, and voting is, for many, the defining act of citizenship. However, elections do not guarantee majority rule, and it has nothing to do with low voter turnout.

Americans were frustrated when the Electoral College chose four presidents who did not receive the most popular votes. But almost 40 percent of presidential elections since 1824 (when the popular vote began being fully recorded) were won by candidates who did not receive a majority of the votes cast. Do our monopolistic major parties and flawed presidential primary system eliminate candidates that the majority would prefer over the eventual nominees? Sure, the voting process needs a good mechanic. But while you are under that hood, make some changes that will give us better ballot options.

CHARLIE HATHAWAY

Tenafly, N.J.

All of Mr. Andrews’s suggestions about increasing access to the polling place are reasonable and should be enacted. At the heart of a strong representative government is a broad and engaged electorate. The current problem in our own venerable democracy is that one of our political parties sees the demographic writing on the wall and has a vested interest in restricting the right to vote. It’s no accident that the states with the most restrictive voting laws are deeply red. Until these state legislatures are actually representative of their increasingly diverse electorate, we will continue to see a significant number of our citizens disenfranchised.

THILO WEISSFLOG

Portland, Ore.

What we really need is a comprehensive federal law governing elections in this country. We’re long past the point where it can be left up to the individual states.

JOHN SHEA

Brooklyn

These ideas should produce a more engaged electorate that votes based on information and analysis rather than on outrage. Requiring a simple citizenship test, as Ms. Case suggests, would increase understanding of the role of government so that natural-born citizens’ knowledge would match that of naturalized citizens. Mr. Langmaid’s suggestion of providing a reward for voting is appealing, as is Mr. Harris’s idea of mandatory voting, though this might make voting feel ordinary and dilute the impact of our vote.

Consolidating elections, as Mr. Langmaid suggests, would reduce election fatigue, save money and perhaps increase voter turnout, but may be difficult to coordinate among different government agencies. Mr. Hathaway’s idea of expanding choices on the ballot should make us feel better about voting for rather than against a candidate, but may cause confusion and a split vote that may have unintended consequences.

We must also ensure that while recognizing the needs of the more diverse electorate discussed by Mr. Weissflog, we can’t neglect the desires of the disaffected white population. Enacting many of these ideas should lead to a more involved electorate that ensures that government works for all of us and not just for the privileged few. We must demand that our elected representatives enact laws that will enhance the core values of our nation, even if they cost money, rather than pass laws that diminish us as a nation. If our democracy is not worth this investment, what is?

EDWIN ANDREWS

Malden, Mass.