The Voter Turnover in America: The Young Versus the Old

The Voter Turnover in America: The Young Versus the Old Name Institutional Affiliation Question II: Part 1. Two reasons for declining citizenship and voter turnout for under 30 adults as compared to over 65-year-olds Over the years, young people in America have consistently under-voted compared to their eligibility to vote. The barriers to the registration process of being a voter have been indicated as the major contributors to fluctuating numbers of the under 30 years’ voting. For instance, registration requirements like literacy tests, annual registration, early deadlines for registration before an election hinders the young population from exercising their rights. In 2014, over 1.9 million individuals never registered as voters as they lacked the information on the registration center. This has seen the decline even in the overall voter participation wherein 2016, only 61% of U.S. citizens voted against 87% of registered voters. In 2014, midterm elections, 42% of U.S. citizens voted against 65% registered voters which were a decline from the 62% of U.S. citizens who voted in 2012 CITATION Tho14 \l 1033 (File, 2014). The Census Bureau reported that in 2012, 53.6% of eligible voters of 18 years to 24 years registered but only 41.2% voted compared to the 79.7% registered voters of between 65-74 years with 73.5% voting CITATION Tho14 \l 1033 (File, 2014). Notably, the graph indicates how older Americans have higher voting rates than the young population and even more than their share of the eligible voting population. File stipulates that the high voting rate among the old people is influenced by several factors such as their reliance on the government after retirement. The old people get their income from the social security fund, receives healthcare under the Medicare plan and enjoys several amenities and services from the government (Green & Gerber, 2015). Thus, they have the necessary incentive to vote in an electorate compared to the young population. The voting procedure is another cause for low voter turnout among the youth. Different procedures exist which include center voting, early voting, voting by email, mandatory voting, same-day voter registration and voting by email among others CITATION Tho14 \l 1033 (File, 2014). Many states use the physical voter voting process characterized by long queues and structural problems. Poor voting procedures result in voters waiting for long hours in lines with limited voting time. The inefficiency of the voting exercise coupled with the psychological issues of the young population, such as their voting not making any difference, political efficacy. The young population tends to be impatient to wait on queues just to vote. In most cases, the majority are in colleges, working or raising families. However, the older population are at a stage of complacency and relaxed with enthusiasm to wait in order to vote. On the other hand, the eligible voters among the young people do not take up voting as an important exercise of their rights. Also, a significant percentage of the young population are noncitizens who do not participate in voting by law. Unlike the older age, young people lack the information and engagement on political parties, candidates and the electoral process makin...