Election Innovation Challenge Lauren Thomas Science Leadership Academy
Introduction Recently, I volunteered through the Committee of Seventy to get a first hand look at what Election Day looks like. When volunteering, I stood outside of four different polling places spread around the part of Philadelphia I live in with a team of two other people and asked registered voters their thoughts on the election process. Since I will be able to register and vote next year, this has given me a large insight into what I will be seeing and the environment I will be in when voting. This Election Innovation Challenge is allowing me and other young people to take part of the voting process we will soon be to participate in. When volunteering, I noticed that not many people came out, especially the younger people and being one of those younger people myself, I can sort of see why. With technology and our way of living, everything seems to be evolving and the way young people act most certainly is. The goal of my proposal is to increase voter engagement and turnout, especially among young people. To do this, we need to evolve the voting process. To grab the attention of young voters, I want to see commercials on television that focus on voting, not which candidates to vote for. What I am proposing through this Election Innovation Challenge could be very beneficial. Voter turnout among 18 to 24 year olds is the lowest among all other age groups (File). Raising this age group's voting turnout would help our government and elected officials to be more reflective of what the population wants. I am a teenager and will be part of the new generation of voters; I understand the mindset and the impulse of my generation and I know what can grab our attention. First Implementation: Voter Commercial Screencap of a voter-aimed commercial from Alberta Provincial Election 2015 (https://youtu.be/drjsubuu6au)
There are signs that litter road sides everywhere; commercials that repeat themselves every five minutes. It starts to feel like you can t escape these. The 96.7% of households in the United States of America that have a television (Stelter) just beg for Election Day to come so these commercials won t pester them anymore. Normally, ads for candidates running in the upcoming election are shown over and over. These ads usually talk highly of the candidate the commercial is endorsing and put down any competing candidates. Rather than boring commercials featuring middle-aged candidates hugging children and shaking hands with the elderly, I want to see non-partisan commercials on air that encourage people to vote. Elections Alberta, a Chief Electoral Office in Alberta Canada, aims to administer open, fair, and impartial elections while providing voters with the necessary information and means to participate in the democratic process. In Alberta, many people show a lack of interest in voting so Elections Alberta created an ad that would target these apathetic voters, especially the younger demographic (CBC News). What I find effective about this commercial is that it is witty, to the point, and the aim of it is clear: to vote. If these commercials were to be implemented in the United States, these commercials could be made by big budget companies, but it would be more effective if young people were able to make their own commercials and submit them to a contest. This will allow students to get involved in the voting process and voter engagement strategies through research but will also help them build skills in filmmaking, collaboration, research, and editing. What makes this contest attractive to schools and classrooms all over the country is that there would be an opportunity to win a cash prize and have their commercial aired. This contest could be held anytime throughout the year since it is non-partisan and doesn t need to refer to who is running, just have the voting date, which can be added in at any time during the editing process. What I propose for winners of the competition is as follows: First place receives a cash prize and the commercial aired on television as well as a visit from a candidate who is running with local news station involvement. Second place receives a less significant cash prize and a not as frequent television airing. Third place receives a tiny cash prize and a possible television spot.
Second Implementation: Party at the Poll Pages from the Young Voter Mobilization Tactics research booklet by the George Washington University; access here: http://www.civicyouth.org/popups/young_voters_guide.pdf. As politics and the new generations participating in politics evolve, a greater need for new techniques emerges. Along with voter engagement commercials, I want to implement an aspect that would make polling attractive to younger people. My original idea for this concept consisted of music playing and refreshments being available to people who have finished voting. The George Washington University published a booklet that talks about a variety of tactics that organizations around the country used to research the efficiency of different tactics to get voters out to vote. These experiments included Parties at the Polls, Absentee Ballot Request Mailer, and Election Day Reminder Calls. Below is a concise table that outlines pg. 19 of the Young Voter Mobilization Tactic booklet: Parties at the Polls Absentee Ballot Request Mailer Election Day Reminder Calls All voters were targeted through advertisements that promoted the party that would have food and entertainment. Direct mail with a tear-off piece to request an absentee ballot*. Volunteers called a list of registered young voters. Voters that were contacted and said yes to voting were given a follow-up call on Election Day. *A ballot completed and typically mailed in advance of an election by a voter who is unable to be present at the polls. Out of the three, the Party at the Poll tactic was the most cost effective. In conjunction with the a commercial advertising voting, voter turnout among young people could increase. The commercials Elections Alberta put out were effective, but the voter turnout rate didn t increase as much as they wished it would have. With effective commercials and a reason to actually go outside and travel to the polls, voter turnout can increase.
Conclusion As a country, we don t want voting to seem like a chore, we want it to be a choice that helps grow a healthy democracy and a happy population. People want the government to truthfully reflect the way the people think and act and the only way to make this possible is if people come out to vote and all age groups are equally represented in the polls. Increasing voter turnout should be a priority, especially among young people and what I proposed in this paper can act as a stepping stone to move us forward.
Annotated Bibliography CBC News. "Elections Alberta Launches Anti-apathy Campaign to Get out Vote." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 08 Apr. 2015. Web. 28 May 2015. I decided to use this news source to back up my findings on Elections Alberta s commercial. Being a Canadian news source, it was very reliable. File, Thom. "Population Characteristics." Young-Adult Voting: An Analysis of Presidential Elections, 1964-2012 (2014): n. pag. U.S. Census Bureau, Apr. 2014. Web. 28 May 2015. To find statistics on young voter turnout, I looked to the US Census Bureau as they are a reliable source and great hub for information. Stelter, Brian. "Ownership of TV Sets Falls in U.S." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 May 2011. Web. 28 May 2015. I used this source for a statistic I inputted into my paper. The article may not relate to my proposal, but what I found did help clarify a statistic. Also, the New York Times is a reliable resource so I trust the information presented.