Why Is Voter Turnout So Low in the United States?

Why Is Voter Turnout So Low in the United States?
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Why is voter turnout in the US so low? How can we change this? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

Answer by Jason Kander, President of Let America Vote, Former MO Secretary of State, on Quora:

First of all, we should make it as easy as possible for eligible voters to vote. Right now, it's one of the most inconvenient things we do. It's hard to register, and it's even harder to vote. Every single state should have early voting - there's nothing else in government where we ask everyone to do the same task on a specific day. Every single state should have online voter registration. Every single jurisdiction should have enough polling places in enough convenient areas so lines aren't hours long on election day. This doesn't require new technology. It doesn't require hard political choices. These fixes should be easy, but unfortunately politics has gotten in the way.

Secondly, politicians need to look in the mirror when turnout is low. A lot of the time, it could mean that they didn't give folks a reason to come out and vote. Like I said, voting is inconvenient, so people are only going to do it if they are motivated. Too many people blame voters when turnout is down. I blame politicians. Give folks something to believe in and they'll go vote.

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