Political Parties and Voter Registration
Political parties tend to focus on the highly educated, affluent, and employment individuals while abandoning the other category of citizens. For instance, only 62% and 68% of individuals with annual incomes less than $ 2500 and $20,000- $39,999 respectively are registered voters while 87% of people earning more than $ 150,000 annual are registered to vote. In terms of education level, 77% of college graduates are registered voters compared to the 29% and 43% of individuals with class eight and high school education. The unemployed, however, have 57% registration compared to the 63% of the employed citizens. From the graphic, it is clear that voter registration significantly varies based on income, employment, education, race, and age.
Question Two
Although parties outline strategies geared towards achieving higher voter registration and voter turnout, less is being done to achieve higher voter turnout. First, the parties fail to follow up on the newly registered voters, assist them in interpreting the legal requirements, and voicing out their concerns through party policies. Given that parties are mostly financed by the affluent, they have shifted their focus to the affluent, neglected the minority, and disadvantaged groups.
Question Three
In order to encourage people to come out in large numbers to register and vote requires set up the voter campaign goals and objects. First, identifying an area or state that has been historically recording a low voter registration and turnout is very crucial for the success of the campaign. Disaggregating the target group by gender, age, and social class can help in designing population focused campaign messages. The reasons people need to vote varies by gender, age, and social class. Last, recruiting volunteers for reaching out to people for the registration can help in increasing the numbers.
Question Four
Citizens participate in voting exercise when they understand and embrace the need for good citizenry. The political parties who only focus on the higher social classes and affluent groups often neglect the less affluent voters. The political parties do not attempt to make the less affluent understand their role in the election process since their needs and grievances are not attended to thereby leading to a lower voter turnout.
