The election system in America is dependent on an engaged voting body for success. For a healthy democracy to thrive, active citizens need to vote for candidates that support their interests while also holding incumbent politicians accountable. Without a high voter turnout, democracies become flawed democracies. And quite often, flawed democracies do not represent the interests of their citizenry. In an average general election cycle, roughly sixty percent of eligible voters cast a ballot nationally. In the 2016 presidential election, for example, only 62 percent of eligible citizens voted. In midterm elections, this number is even lower. In the midterms, only forty percent of eligible voters choose to vote. This means that, on average, only half of all potential ballots are cast in any given election. This trend of lackluster civic engagement is dangerous and indicates that the American election system is far less effective than it could be.
In every presidential election of the last three decades, no more than 68 percent of the American electorate has voted. There have only been two instances since 1990 in which there was higher than a 65 percent voter turnout. These two exceptions were the presidential elections of 1992 and 2000, both of which saw an incumbent president lose a reelection bid. Although it is a small sample size, this may show us something about the tendencies of voters. American citizens tend to vote in higher numbers in opposition to candidates than in support of candidates. To see this trend in action, look at the election turnout data of the last half-century. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush lost his reelection bid to then-Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. In late 1991 and early 1992, President Bush’s approval ratings were in free-fall after the Los Angeles Riots and his administration’s new tax hike. In 2020, President Donald Trump lost his reelection bid to former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump’s loss was propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. By November 2020, President Trump’s approval rating had dipped well below fifty percent, with no sign of recovery. American voters responded to the crises of both the Bush and Trump presidencies by ousting them from the White House. These two elections saw record-high voter turnout with 67% and 70% voter turnout, respectively. These turnout numbers are higher than any election in which a sitting president won reelection.
As supported by the statistics of the last several decades, American voters respond to crises and unfavorable politicians with a strong showing at the polls. This could not have been clearer in the 2020 election when voters of nearly every minority group saw turnout rates increase by roughly six percent. Many of these voters told media outlets that their reason for voting was President Trump’s poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To fix the problem of low voter turnout in the United States, the American people must vote not only in times of crisis but during times of certainty as well. After all, democracy requires consistent civic engagement. Fortunately, the 2020 election cycle saw a higher number of newly registered young voters than ever before. For the sake of a successful democracy, we must all hope that Americans, young Americans in particular, will remain politically engaged by doing their civic duty of voting in future elections.
