Voting Rates of the American Poor :: Politics

In The Working Poor, David Shipler reports that in the 2000 presidential election only 38 portion ofAmeri croups with incomes less than $10,000 taked compared to 75 pct of those with incomes all over$75,000. (278) These sorts of statistics are not limited to 2000. In the six elections from 1980 to 2000,the average voter turnout of people in the bottom fifth of the income quintiles was 53 pct, tourthe conduce fifth averaged over 80 percent (Election Results). For the bottom fifth, the average householdincome was under $11,500 during each election year. The top fifth averaged an income nearly to$118,000 (DeNavas-Walt, et al.). The 2004 election was no different with 55 percent of the votes castby people with incomes of $50,000 and up. That means over half of the votes cast were by a base thatcontrols 70 percent of the nations wealth. In every election since 1964, when these statistics were firstrecorded, the South has had a lower voter turnout than the other tierce major reg ions. The South hasalso consistently had the highest penury rate of the four regions. On average, there is a twenty-five tothirty percentage-point gap between the turnouts of the net and highest income quintiles in theUnited States (Cevrantes and Gluckman).Though it is clear the misfortunate generally dont vote, the reasons for this are not so clear. Educationseems to be biggest factor. Less than 40 percent of citizens without a high work degree voted in the2000 election, compared with an 80 percent turnout for those with an advanced degree. Thepercentages rise with more precept. A connection to poverty can be drawn when considering thatover 13 percent of workers without a high school degree are in poverty, compared with only about 1percent of workers with a college degree. It should be noted these statistics concern only workers, andnot the unemployed. As a United States census report noted, Those with a high school education orless were more likely than those with more educati on to respond that they were not interested in theelection or felt their vote would not make a difference.Even more significant among the poor than the ghost that their vote will not make a difference isthe feeling their vote may not be counted. Claims of voting irregularities, true or not, often keep thepoor away from the polls. A large bloc of poor Americans deprive themselves out of the fear ofbeing disenfranchised. With a mindset that their vote will just be erased after leaving, the poor avoidVoting grade of the American Poor PoliticsIn The Working Poor, David Shipler reports that in the 2000 presidential election only 38 percent ofAmericans with incomes less than $10,000 voted compared to 75 percent of those with incomes over$75,000. (278) These sorts of statistics are not limited to 2000. In the six elections from 1980 to 2000,the average voter turnout of people in the bottom fifth of the income quintiles was 53 percent, whilethe top fifth averaged over 80 percent (Elec tion Results). For the bottom fifth, the average householdincome was under $11,500 during each election year. The top fifth averaged an income close to$118,000 (DeNavas-Walt, et al.). The 2004 election was no different with 55 percent of the votes castby people with incomes of $50,000 and up. That means over half of the votes cast were by a group thatcontrols 70 percent of the nations wealth. In every election since 1964, when these statistics were firstrecorded, the South has had a lower voter turnout than the other three major regions. The South hasalso consistently had the highest poverty rate of the four regions. On average, there is a twenty-five tothirty percentage-point gap between the turnouts of the lowest and highest income quintiles in theUnited States (Cevrantes and Gluckman).Though it is clear the poor generally dont vote, the reasons for this are not so clear. Educationseems to be biggest factor. Less than 40 percent of citizens without a high school degree voted in th e2000 election, compared with an 80 percent turnout for those with an advanced degree. Thepercentages rise with more education. A connection to poverty can be drawn when considering thatover 13 percent of workers without a high school degree are in poverty, compared with only about 1percent of workers with a college degree. It should be noted these statistics concern only workers, andnot the unemployed. As a United States census report noted, Those with a high school education orless were more likely than those with more education to respond that they were not interested in theelection or felt their vote would not make a difference.Even more significant among the poor than the feeling that their vote will not make a difference isthe feeling their vote may not be counted. Claims of voting irregularities, true or not, often keep thepoor away from the polls. A large bloc of poor Americans disenfranchise themselves out of the fear ofbeing disenfranchised. With a mindset that their vote will just be erased after leaving, the poor avoid