We should all vote – but you have to be registered first
In my essay “How To Critique A Political System”, I state:
“To assess the democratic nature of a political system, one needs a set of tests that are ‘real world’ as opposed to theoretical. Such a set of tests would revolve around the following key questions about the political system itself:
- How easy is it to obtain the right to vote? In some cases, residency alone is sufficient to obtain the right to vote. In other cases, citizenship is required before one can have the right to vote. So, for instance, in the USA, illegal migrants cannot vote. In the Gulf States, no migrant worker can vote. In all countries, the right to vote is limited by age and, in many other cases, there are limitations of one kind or another.
- How easy is it actually to vote? Someone with the right to vote needs to register in order to be able to exercise that right. Some countries make such registration easier than others. In the USA, registration rules are a matter for the states and some states require proof of identity at the polling station. Keeping the voting register up-to-date is often a challenge.
- What proportion of the electorate does actually vote? In many democratic countries, voter turnout has been falling. In the USA, for the last 40 years typical turnouts even for Presidential elections have been little more than 50%. In 22 countries, voting is compulsory, although only 10 of this countries enforce this (Australia and Brazil are examples). Is there a major difference in which components of the electorate actualy vote? In many cases, voter participation is low among young people and ethnic minorities.”
Here, in the UK, six million people, who are eligible to cast their ballot in the General Election, are not signed up to vote. So I’m pleased to see that the “Mirror” newspaper – in conjunction with a number of citizen organisations – is running a campaign to encourage a million more people to register to vote.
As the Institute for Public Policy Research – for which my son works – states:“This matters because governments are more likely to frame policies that appeal to groups who vote and neglect the interests of those who don’t, leading to greater political inequality.”
Voters are becoming older and wealthier (like me), according to figures published by the Institute for Public Policy Research. The young and the poor tend not to vote which means that political policies neglect their interests which in turn creates a growing disconnect between citizens and politicians.