Voter+Turnout

=//Voter Turnout//=

//"Vote early and vote often"//
AA, Ben, Tran, Matt, Brendan


 * //Historical Turnout//**

Voting turnout before 1900 is difficult to measure due to a number confounding problems. The years of 1860-1876, however, are considered the "Gilded Age" of American politics since it is believed that a greater proportion of eligible voters actually voted than in any other time in American history. In this period, it is believed that turnout was routinely over 70%. However, a major factor to this could be the corruption of elections during this time period. Elections were, at this time, run by the political parties and not the government itself. Thus, phrases like "Come early and vote often" were very real during this time period, as officials wouldn't care as much who voted as they would who the people were voting for. Vote counters would often skew the voting results and throw out votes of opposing candidates as well. Starting in the 1890's, however, the increase of use of the Australian ballot, a piece of paper cast in secret with uniform shape and size, led to the decrease in corruption. More stringent election guidelines have lowered the proportion of voters voting in recent times.


 * //Modern Turnout//**

Voting Turnout today is much lower than it was in the 1800's. In terms of proportion of voters compared to the entire voting age population, the US has a turnout 2nd lowest to only Switzerland, a number likely due to the fact that registering to vote is relatively difficult in the US, as well as because there are more offices to vote for. In terms of proportion compared to the number of people actually able to vote, the rank of the US fares much better. As of very recent times, voter turnout has been on an upswing, with turnout in the 2008 election being the highest since 1968.